Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is correct. Some 287,000 people are still on the PUP. We hope that as the economy continues to reopen, more people will return to work. The unfortunate reality is, however, that not all of them will be able to return to the jobs they had before the onset of Covid-19. There are also 220,000 people on the live register, so my focus will be on supporting those individuals in getting back into employment. That is why, as part of the July stimulus package, the Minister with responsibility for higher education, Deputy Harris, and I announced a €200 million package that will be used to help people reskill and retrain. It will provide for up to 80,000 new training and education places, including an additional 35,500 places in the higher and further education sectors, with 45,500 new employment support places being created.

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