The number of people receiving the PUP is at its lowest since December 2020 with the number now below 300,000 for the first time this year.
The Department of Social Protection paid out €84.3 million to 285,265 people on Tuesday - representing a drop of 24,250 people from last week.
Some 602,100 people claimed PUP at the height of the pandemic in the week beginning May 4th last year.
The accommodation and food service sector saw the largest decrease in the number of people receiving the PUP this week.
The figures do not yet reflect the reopening of hospitality over the past week because PUP is paid two weeks in arrears.
The sector had 84,787 claimants with some 5,339 fewer people receiving the payment compared with last week.
When the number of people claiming PUP was at its highest back in May 2020, 131,230 employees from this sector received the payment.
Wholesale and retail trade is the second worst-affected sector, with 41,695 people availing of the PUP.
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