THE NUMBER OF people in the State receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) has risen by more than 15,000.

The Department of Social Protection confirmed this morning that 244,153 people are now in receipt of the welfare payment, up from 228,858 people last week.

The value of payments issued today totalled €65.5 million, a rise of €4.1 million over the last seven days.

The number of people on the payment has now risen by 38,560 in the last two weeks, following the implementation of Level 3 measures across the country.

Last week saw Level 4 restrictions introduced in Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan in response to the escalating number of cases in the border region.

As with the previous week, there were increases in the number of claimants in all counties over the last seven days.

The number of people claiming the PUP also increased across all age groups, with the under 25 age group having the highest total (60,873) and the biggest increase (5,874) in claimants in the last seven days – the second week in a row this has happened.

The 25-34 year-old age group makes up the second-highest number of claimants (55,616), followed by the 35-44 age group (52,334), the 45-54 age group (42,285) and those aged over 55 (33,025).

The sector with the highest number of people receiving a PUP payment this week is Accommodation and Food Services, with 79,369 claimants – a rise of around 10,000 in the last seven days and 28,000 in the last two weeks.