Thousands of people on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment will be keeping a close eye on Tuesday's announcement as the rate looks set to be slashed later this year.
Government leaders are meeting at Cabinet to finalise the plans that will see the rate brought down in a series of cuts throughout autumn and winter.
The first reduction in the payment is expected in September, when it will be cut by €50.
However Ministers are insisting that there will be "no cliff edge", with the payment being slowly phased out as society reopens.
Here is everything we know so far about the announcement today:
What will change?
Government ministers are set to announce plans to wean over 300,000 people off PUP.
Over a number of months the payment will nearly be halved from €350 down to the regular unemployment rate of just over €200.
When will it change?
There will be no cuts until the end of the summer, with plans to go before ministers’ approval calling for a series of €50 cuts throughout 2021 and early 2022.
Students will also be kicked off the scheme in September as they head back to college and no new entrants will be allowed.
The wage support paid through employers for workers, the EWSS (Emergency Wage Support Scheme) is “likely to be extended into the medium term,” according to a Government source.
This would indicate that this benefit will also continue past the summer.
The full Cabinet will have a discussion on these proposals at a meeting on Tuesday morning and will have the final collective say.
Opposition politicians and workers will vehemently oppose any tapering off of the payment, but the Government will argue back that it is unsustainable going forward.
What else is set to be announced today?
The PUP cuts will be announced alongside a major stimulus package to get the economy back on its feet after Covid.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Leo Varadkar, and Green Party leader, Eamon Ryan, will jointly launch the National Economic Recovery Plan.
The Government is in line to receive almost €1billion from a special EU Covid fund.
This will help pay for a number of initiatives, including the extension of the VAT waiver for the tourism sector and another waiver of commercial rates, which was due to end at the end of this month.
And as part of an overall reform of working life, Mr Varadkar will commit to introducing a ‘living wage’ as soon as two years’ time, with auto-enrolment for pensions also to be announced.
