THE number of people in Donegal who are in receipt of a Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) has fallen below 6,000.
The last week saw a further drop of 193 people in the county receiving a PUP, with the figure now standing at 5,823.
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in early May, there were 22,700 people in Donegal who were in receipt of a PUP.
Yesterday, the Department of Social Protection issued payments valued at €61.3 million to 206,341 people across the country for the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment.
This represents a decrease of 3,600 on the 209,941 people paid last week and it is a drop of over 65% on the 598,000 paid at its peak on 5th May.
In the past seven days, 6,333 people have closed their claim for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment. Some 4,568 people will be receiving their final payment tomorrow, 22nd September.
Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys, said: “Throughout this Pandemic, we have taken decisions that we never thought we would have to make. But underpinning our entire approach has been the need to save lives.
“We are experiencing unprecedented times in our country and it is essential that now more than ever we raise our efforts to suppress the Covid-19 virus.
“We owe it to our families, friends, work colleagues and businesses that have been affected by the virus.
“Most of all, we owe it to the frontline staff who are making enormous sacrifices to care for people in hospitals, care centres and nursing homes.
“If every one of us follows the public health advice and guidelines we will succeed in suppressing this virus. This is the best way to protect our society and restore all sectors of our economy.”