One in five people receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) are in the hospitality and food services industry, new figures show.
More than 2,000 accommodation and food service workers left the scheme this week, but the sector continues to have the largest number of people still in receipt of the payment.
As The Irish Times reports, the 31,767 in the industry still registered equates to just under 25 per cent of the number receiving the payment when claims peaked in May 2020.
The weekly figures published by the Department of Social Protection reveal that 153,309 people continue to receive the PUP.
Nearly one in six recipients (24,287) resided in the wholesale and retail trade industries, including vehicle repair, while one in nine (17,879) worked in administrative and support services.
There are 12,609 people in the construction industry on the payment, as well as 8,908 in manufacturing and 7,657 in “other” sectors, including hairdressing and beauty.
Less than 5,000 recipients worked in the arts, entertainment and recreation industries.
Further investigation
The chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, Adrian Cummins, said there needs to be “further investigation” into why the number of people in receipt of the PUP in his industry continues to be so high when hospitality businesses are struggling to find staff.
“Every business has signs up looking for staff. We have students on PUP payments who can stay at home,” he said.
The payment was necessary at a time when the hospitality industry was forced to shut but one “cannot square the circle” of staff shortages and the continuation of these payments, Mr Cummins said.
“Are those 32,000 people in Ireland or have they gone back to their own countries? Our position is that PUP should be closed for sectors that are fully open,” he said. Whether wages should be higher is a “separate issue”, he added, and the PUP should not be viewed as a higher rate of unemployment benefit.
A fifth of PUP recipients are under the age of 25, while those in the 25-34 and 35-44 age brackets each represent nearly a quarter. There are a further 166,348 people in receipt of Enhanced Illness Benefit, which covers those who contract the virus or with medical certificates proving they have been advised to self-isolate.
The Department of Social Protection is also planning two further phases of rate changes: on November 16th of this year and on February 8th, 2022.
Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said 4,400 PUP recipients closed their claims last week, almost half of which were in the accommodation and food sectors.
📢Minister @HHumphreysFG welcomes huge increase in number of parents availing of Parent’s Benefit
✅Over 20,400 parents have been awarded Parent’s Benefit between April & July this year
✅Quickest & easiest way to apply is at https://t.co/M2y3fHDfmA
ℹ️https://t.co/4bzJJih3uf pic.twitter.com/hKZwIlEqLx— Department of Social Protection (@welfare_ie) August 18, 2021
