A decision will be made tomorrow about the future of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.
The social welfare benefit was brought in at the beginning of the pandemic here in March 2020 in order to assist members of the public who had lost their job as a result of the coronavirus.
Over €7 billion has been spent by the Government on the payment - but with thousands now returning to work as a result of the country reopening, the numbers who are shutting off the benefit is rising each week.
However, the benefit will be halted at some point, with a decision due tomorrow.
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has said that the Pandemic Unemployment Payment will likely be phased out in September or October.
The Fine Gael leader said a decision will be made on Tuesday and that the government aims to end the support "cautiously".
Speaking in the Dublin Bay South constituency yesterday, Mr Varadkar said: “We are making a decision on Tuesday in relation to the future of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.
"It was always introduced as a temporary measure for the pandemic. So it will have to end at some point, but we’re not going to phase it out too quickly.
"A lot of businesses really aren’t going to reopen until later on in July, hospitality, tourism and aviation, for example, and some don’t even have a date yet for reopening.
“The phase out is going to be done cautiously, it’s not going to start immediately, it’ll start probably in September or October.”
In the immediate aftermath of the Taoiseach's address to the nation last week, Mr Varadkar had a warning for those who could try and find a loophole in the PUP rules to allow them to return to work while still claiming the benefit.
"If you refuse to take your job back when it's offered to you, you lose your PUP entitlement and employers can report that. We will ask people to confirm that they are still eligible for PUP, that worked last summer when we asked.
"As things stand, about 25,000 are coming off it a week."
Speaking last week, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys guaranteed that there won't be a "cliff-edge" for those receiving the payment.
“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 reopening. Therefore, there will be no cliff-edge reduction in people’s incomes on 1 July."
