There are now over 700,000 people relying on social welfare payments during the coronavirus pandemic, a massive leap in numbers from last week.
507,000 people received a COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Support payment last Friday, according to figures from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.
This is a huge jump in people receiving the €350 weekly payment, up from 283,000 the week before, as the crisis takes an economic toll on the country.
There are also over 200,000 people on the Live Register receiving a standard Jobseeker’s Benefit, unrelated to the deadly crisis, RTE reports.
The Economic Social and Research Institute said in late March that Ireland's economy could contract by over 7% – with unemployment soaring to a grim 18%.
Prior to the lockdown, Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty said her estimate of 400,000 unemployed due to the crisis looked conservative.
The National Public Health Emergency Team will be meeting this week to decide if the lockdown will continue past its initial deadline of April 12.
Tanaiste Simon Coveney warned last week that the lockdown was likely to continue longer than expected.
He added: “We’ve set an initial period, but I think it may well be that we’ll need to go beyond that initial deadline. But again, that will be a decision taken with the best public health advice we can get.”
