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

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Prior to the onset of Covid-19 in March 2020, the labour market was performing strongly and the live register, which measures people claiming standard jobseeker's payments, stood at just over 183,000. By May 2020, this number had increased to just under 226,000. At its peak, the combined total of people in receipt of jobseeker's payments or pandemic unemployment payments, PUPs, reached 820,000 in April 2020. Including the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, and the temporary wage subsidy scheme, TWSS, the number reached 1.25 million in May 2020.

The lifting of remaining health restrictions earlier this year, and the subsequent welcome economic recovery, has allowed the PUP and EWSS to be gradually unwound. On 29 March, the PUP scheme wound down, with the transition to full jobseeker's terms for all remaining recipients. The EWSS scheme is also in the process of closing. The live register now includes all eligible PUP recipients who transitioned to jobseeker's terms. I am pleased to report that, including all of these transitions, as of this week, the live register stands at approximately 174,200, which is below its pre-pandemic level. This is an extremely welcome development and signifies the strong and vibrant recovery of the labour market. This recovery reflects the value of the very strong State supports, not just PUP and EWSS, but schemes such as the Covid restrictions support scheme.

While current live register trends are extremely positive, we need to continue to provide appropriate employment supports to those who remain on the live register. Through delivering the pathways to work employment services strategy, we will continue to work to ensure that we have a balanced labour market recovery post Covid-19, where no one is left behind.

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