The sector with the highest number of people receiving PUP this week is Accommodation and Food Service activities (93,687), followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade (54,391) and Administrative and Support Service Activities (30,603).

Positivity

Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys says: "Over the past fortnight, the number of people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment has fallen by about 50,000.

"The figures that I am publishing today include the largest number of people to close their claim in a single week since the year began.

"We are also seeing reductions in the number of people receiving the PUP in every county and across all occupations.

"These are all really positive signs and reflect the impact of sectors such as retail re-opening in full.

"In relation to the PUP, we have now spent over €7.7 billion, supporting over 860,000 people.

"We do need to be conscious, however, that some sectors are slower than others in terms of re-opening.

"Therefore, there will be no cliff edge reduction in people’s incomes on July 1st."

Scams

People are also being reminded of a number of scams in operation.

The department says: "These calls and texts display a range of numbers, including some which may appear to be from the Department’s phone numbers. The Department would like to remind all its customers that it will never seek personal information from customers via text message and will never ask a customer for their bank details over the phone.

"Any person who receives such a call or text is asked not to disclose any information and to report it to the Gardaí immediately."