Changes to the Pandemic Unemployment Payment will be noticed from Tuesday July 7 after the scheme terms were altered with effect from June 29.

From June 29 there are now two rates of payment for PUP, based on what the recipient earned from previous employment.

For individuals who earned less than €200 a week prior to the pandemic, their PUP payment has been reduced to €203 per week, the same as the standard dole payment.

For individuals who earned €200 or more a week prior to the lockdown, they will continue to receive €350 per week.

All PUP recipients have to confirm their eligibility to continue receiving the payment by July 13 by entering their details on mywelfare.ie.

In Association with

There is one exception to the change in rate of payment. Individuals who were working part-time and claiming a jobseeker's payment immediately before claiming the PUP will continue to receive €350 a week.

Calculating The PUP Rate 

Employees: The rate of payment is based on past earnings notified to Revenue and subject to PRSI. Rates are calculated based on average weekly earnings during 2019 (full year) and 2020 (January and February). If an employee record is found in 2019 and 2020, the higher amount of income is used to calculate the rate.

If no employee record is available, self-employment contributions from 2018 are used. The assessment is based on the Class S record only. If no earnings data is available, either as an employee or self-employed person, the rate of Pandemic Unemployment Payment is reduced to €203 per week.

Self-employed: The rate of payment is based on past earnings notified to Revenue and subject to PRSI. Rates are calculated based on self-assessment returns for 2018.

The assessment is based on the Class S record only. While there a limited number of Class S returns on record for 2019, these relate to returns under the PAYE system. In a large number of cases, these returns require further examination, or the data could distort the examination of individual employee returns for that year.

If no earnings data is available, the rate of Pandemic Unemployment Payment is reduced to €203 per week.

Social Protection minister Heather Humphreys (pictured) said that claimants with one adult dependent and one or more dependent children should not be claiming PUP and should be claiming a jobseeker's payment instead.

Allowances for adult dependent and child dependents will bring the weekly payment to in excess of the maximum weekly payment of €350 available under the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, the minister stated.

The PUP is paid in arrears, with the payment week running from Friday to Thursday. Latest data indicates that 63,000 people closed their PUP claim last week, reducing total claimants to 413,000, who were paid €128m.

There are currently c.65,500 employers who have registered with the Revenue Commissioners for the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS). An estimated 410,000 employees are currently being supported by the scheme having received a subsidy in their most recent pay period.