More than a thousand employers have reported their members of staff for fraudulently claiming the Pandemic Unemployment Payment or refusing to return to work after lockdown restrictions eased.
Some 1,270 employers used the Department of Social Protection's employer reporting facility to report suspected fraudulent claims or that their staff refused to return to work when the sector reopened.
Some 6,000 members of the public also reported PUP-related fraud since between March 2020 and May 2021.
A total of 3,300 workers' PUP claims were investigated as a result - but just 500 people lost their payment.
New figures show less than 0.1% who received the PUP have lost their payment for making a fraudulent claim or refusing to return back to work.
Employers in certain sectors, such as hospitality and construction, claim workers do not want to return to work because the PUP, worth up to €350 per week, is a disincentive to going back.
Some 3,300 claims were reviewed by the Department of Social Protection and 500 workers had their payments stopped.
A total of 870,000 workers have received payments worth more than €8billion since the PUP was introduced in March 2020, meaning just 0.05% of workers have lost payments for failing to return to work or making fraudulent claims.
Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said she doesn't deem it necessary for PUP applicants to prove that they lost their job due to the coronavirus pandemic.
She is encouraging employers to report people who refuse to return to work when offered employment and has said any worker who refuses “an offer of suitable employment” can be taken off the PUP.
In response to a parliamentary question, she said: "My Department accepts that in applying for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, a person is confirming that they have lost their employment as a direct consequence of COVID-19.
"Accordingly, it is not necessary for a person to provide proof of unemployment, save in exceptional circumstances
"The rate of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment is linked to a person's previous earnings, and my Department uses data from the Revenue Commissioners for this purpose.
"Where a person has applied for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and my Department cannot find any record of PRSI contributions or earnings, it contacts the people concerned and asks them to submit evidence of employment, for example a pay slip.
"Where they provide the required evidence, their claim is then put into payment as quickly as possible."
The PUP closes to new applicants today.
