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Detailed COVID-19 Income Support and Live Register Tables

Detailed breakdowns for recipients of the COVID-19 Income Supports and those meeting the criteria for inclusion on the Live Register 

 

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The main COVID-19 income support schemes have now ended.

Data in relation to these schemes is contained in series LRW07, LRW08 and LRW13- LRW18 and is located at the link given under the Live Register section within the Labour Market domain of the CSO PxStat system.

Final payments in respect of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) scheme issued were in respect of the week ending Friday 25 March 2022.

The PUP was administered by the Department of Social Protection (DSP). It was initially closed to new applicants from 08 July 2021. Under the Economic Recovery Plan, there was also a gradual reduction in rates from 07 September 2021 while the process of possible transition of PUP recipients to a jobseeker’s payment began on 26 October 2021. The scheme reopened for individuals, including the self-employed, who lost their employment between 07 December 2021 and 22 January 2022 following the introduction of COVID-19 related public health restrictions.

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) closed on 31 August 2020. The TWSS data contained in the tables for Week 36 (week ending on 06 September 2020) only contains data for Monday 31 August 2020.

The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) closed on 31 May 2022, therefore the data contained in tables for Week 22 only contains data for Monday 30 and Tuesday 31 May 2022. The EWSS ended for most businesses on 30 April 2022. The EWSS ended on 31 May 2022 for businesses directly impacted by the public health restrictions introduced in December 2021.

 

UPDATE 08 July 2022:

An update to the detailed Live Register and the COVID-19 income support Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) weekly series was published on CSO’s dissemination database system, PxStat today. This data is contained in series LRW07, LRW08, LRW13- LRW18 and LRW20 and is located at the link given under the Live Register section within the Labour Market domain of the CSO PxStat system.

Today’s update for these detailed tables will bring the weekly tables for the Live Register up to date as of Week 26 (week ending 03 July 2022).

The Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) scheme has ended, final payments issued were in respect of the week ending Friday 25 March 2022. All PUP recipients have either transferred to a Jobseeker’s scheme or had their PUP claim closed, either because they did not apply for a jobseeker’s payment or they do not have an entitlement e.g. they are in receipt of another scheme payment, or are pending a decision on their jobseeker claim.

The PUP was administered by the Department of Social Protection (DSP). It was initially closed to new applicants from 08 July 2021. Under the Economic Recovery Plan, there was also a gradual reduction in rates from 07 September 2021 while the process of possible transition of PUP recipients to a jobseeker’s payment began on 26 October 2021. The scheme reopened for individuals, including the self-employed, who lost their employment between 07 December 2021 and 22 January 2022 following the introduction of COVID-19 related public health restrictions.

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) closed on 31 August 2020 and the CSO no longer receives updates from Revenue on TWSS. Therefore, the TWSS data contained in the tables for Week 36 (week ending on 06 September 2020) only contains data for Monday 31 August 2020.

The Labour Market Analysis area also receives data from Revenue on the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), which replaced the TWSS at the start of September 2020. Today’s update for these detailed tables will bring the weekly tables for the EWSS up to date as of Week 22 (week ending 05 June 2022).

The EWSS closed on 31 May 2022, therefore the data contained in tables for Week 22 only contains data for Monday 30 and Tuesday 31 May 2022. The EWSS ended for most businesses on 30 April 2022. The EWSS ended on 31 May 2022 for businesses directly impacted by the public health restrictions introduced in December 2021.

UPDATE 03 June 2022

An update to the detailed Live Register and the COVID-19 income support Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) weekly series was published on CSO’s dissemination database system, PxStat today. This data is contained in series LRW07, LRW08 and LRW13- LRW18 and is located at the link given under the Live Register section within the Labour Market domain of the CSO PxStat system.

Today’s update for these detailed tables will bring the weekly tables for the Live Register up to date as of Week 21 (week ending 29 May 2022).

The Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) scheme has ended, final payments issued were in respect of the week ending Friday 25 March 2022. All PUP recipients have either transferred to a Jobseeker’s scheme or had their PUP claim closed, either because they did not apply for a jobseeker’s payment or they do not have an entitlement e.g. they are in receipt of another scheme payment, or are pending a decision on their jobseeker claim.

The PUP was administered by the Department of Social Protection (DSP). It was initially closed to new applicants from 08 July 2021. Under the Economic Recovery Plan, there was also a gradual reduction in rates from 07 September 2021 while the process of possible transition of PUP recipients to a jobseeker’s payment began on 26 October 2021. The scheme reopened for individuals, including the self-employed, who lost their employment between 07 December 2021 and 22 January 2022 following the introduction of COVID-19 related public health restrictions.

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) closed on 31 August 2020 and the CSO no longer receives updates from Revenue on TWSS. Therefore, the TWSS data contained in the tables for Week 36 (week ending on 06 September 2020) only contains data for Monday 31 August 2020.

The Labour Market Analysis area also receives data from Revenue on the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), which replaced the TWSS at the start of September 2020. Today’s update for these detailed tables will bring the weekly tables for the EWSS up to date as of Week 16 (week ending 24 April 2022).

UPDATE 04 March 2022:

An update to the detailed Live Register and the COVID-19 income support Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) weekly series was published on CSO’s dissemination database system, PxStat today. This data is contained in series LRW07, LRW08 and LRW13- LRW18 and is located at the link given under the Live Register section within the Labour Market domain of the CSO PxStat system.

Today’s update for these detailed tables will bring the weekly tables for the Live Register and the PUP up to date as of Week 08 (week ending 27 February 2022).

The PUP was closed to new applicants from 08 July 2021. Under the Economic Recovery Plan, there was also a gradual reduction in rates from 7 September 2021, while the process of possible transition of PUP recipients to a jobseeker’s payment began on 26 October 2021. The scheme reopened for individuals, including the self-employed, who lost their employment between 07 December 2021 and 22 January 2022 following the introduction of COVID-19 related public health restrictions.

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) closed on 31 August 2020 and the CSO no longer receives updates from Revenue on TWSS. Therefore, the TWSS data contained in the tables for Week 36 (week ending on 06 September 2020) only contains data for Monday 31 August 2020. 

The Labour Market Analysis area also receives data from Revenue on the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), which replaced the TWSS at the start of September 2020. Today’s update for these detailed tables will bring the weekly tables for the EWSS up to date as of Week 52 (week ending 02 January 2022).

UPDATE 14 January 2022:

An update to the detailed Live Register and the COVID-19 income support Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) weekly series was published on CSO’s dissemination database system, PxStat today. These data are contained in series LRW07, LRW08 and LRW13- LRW18 and is located at the link given under the Live Register section within the Labour Market domain of the CSO PxStat system.

Today’s update for these detailed tables will bring the weekly tables for the Live Register and the PUP up to date as of Week 52 (week ending 02 January 2022).

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) closed on 31 August 2020 and the CSO no longer receives updates from Revenue on TWSS. Therefore, the TWSS data contained in the tables for Week 36 (week ending on 06 September 2020) only contains data for Monday 31 August 2020. 

The Labour Market Analysis area also receives data from Revenue on the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), which replaced the TWSS at the start of September 2020. Today’s update for these detailed tables will bring the weekly tables for the EWSS up to date as of Week 43 (week ending 31 October 2021).

UPDATE 02 July 2021:

An update to the detailed Live Register and the COVID-19 income support Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) weekly series was published on CSO’s dissemination database system, PxStat today. This data is contained in series LRW07, LRW08 and LRW13- LRW18 and is located at the link given under the Live Register section within the Labour Market domain of the CSO PxStat system.

Today’s update for these detailed tables will bring the weekly tables for the Live Register and the PUP up to date as of Week 25 (week ending 27 June 2021).

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) closed on 31 August 2020 and the CSO no longer receives updates from Revenue on TWSS. Therefore, the TWSS data contained in the tables for Week 36 (week ending on 06 September 2020) only contains data for Monday 31 August 2020. 

The Labour Market Analysis area also receives data from Revenue on the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), which replaced the TWSS at the start of September 2020. Today’s update for these detailed tables will bring the weekly tables for the Live Register and the EWSS up to date as of Week 17 (week ending 02 May 2021).

UPDATE 04 June 2021:

The CSO published a Frontier Series Output titled COVID-19 Income Supports - An Analysis of Recipients March 2020 to May 2021 recently.

Data for this output was taken from updated versions of the existing PxStat tables LRW01 to LRW12. Some of those tables had EWSS details added, while others were archived and replaced accordingly with the following list:

LRW07: New entrants to the PUP, TWSS or EWSS by NACE Economic Sector

LRW08: Persons in receipt of the TWSS and EWSS (by pay frequency)

LRW13: Number of Persons on the Live Register, in receipt of the PUP and supported by the TWSS or EWSS (by detailed age group and sex)

LRW14: Number of Persons on the Live Register, in receipt of the PUP and supported by the TWSS or EWSS (by county, age group and sex)

LRW15: Number of Persons on the Live Register, in receipt of the PUP and supported by the TWSS or EWSS (by nationality, age group and sex)

LRW16: Number of Persons on the Live Register, in receipt of the PUP and supported by the TWSS or EWSS (by NACE economic sector)

LRW17: Cumulative Persons receiving PUP, TWSS or EWSS (by detailed age group and sex)

LRW18: Cumulative Persons receiving PUP, TWSS or EWSS (by NACE economic sector)

Tables LRW13 to LRW15 published on PxStat today also include weekly estimates of the total number of persons on the Live Register (LR), or who are being supported by the PUP, TWSS or EWSS (Estimated Number of Persons on the LR or benefitting from PUP, TWSS or EWSS). Those tables also include another “Total” that excludes those on Live Register (Estimated Number of Persons benefitting from PUP, TWSS or EWSS) for the period of March 2020 through to March 2021. Both “Totals” remove any overlap or duplication within the relevant schemes for each week as they count each person only once even if they appear on more than one scheme in the reference week.

Some of the previous tables (LRW01-LRW06 and LRW09-LRW12) were archived and have been replaced by updated tables. For the Live Register and the PUP, all the data contained in those tables is available in the new tables outlined above. For the TWSS, the data from Tables LRW01-LRW06 which contained estimates that are based on pay weeks have been archived. These estimates only counted monthly, four-weekly and fortnightly paid employees in weeks that they receive a payslip. Thus, these tables were under estimating the number of persons being supported by the TWSS. Table LRW08 still outlines the number of persons who benefitted from either the TWSS or the EWSS in each week based on their pay frequency. Tables LRW09-LRW12 contained estimates of the number of persons being supported by the TWSS in each week and updated estimates are available now in LRW13-LRW16.

From April 2021, the Live Register release included Monthly EWSS totals in Annex Table A2 and on LRM20 up to the previous reference month. Weekly updates are published alongside the May 2021 release on the PxStat tables mentioned above. Today’s update for those detailed tables brings the weekly tables for the Live Register and the PUP up to data as of Week 21 (week ending 30 May 2021), while the EWSS and related figures, are updated up to Week 12 (28 March 2021).

 

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Background Information

The Labour Market and Earnings Division within the Central Statistics Office (CSO) have worked with both the Department of Social Protection (DSP) and the Revenue Commissioners to meet user needs for availability of more detailed aggregates for the recipients of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) and the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) respectively.

Tables providing the breakdowns of the numbers receiving the PUP and the TWSS each week by sex, age group, county of residence and nationality grouping are available on the CSO dissemination system PxStat. The PUP tables are based on the numbers who have received a payment for the relevant reference weeks. The reference weeks in the TWSS tables, available only up to Week 36 (week ending on 06 September 2020) only, are based on the pay date of the recipient and reflected those who had a pay date in the week. Thus, the differing periodicity of payments of wages and salaries (fortnightly, four weekly, monthly, etc) means that not all persons benefitting from the scheme were included in every week of the analysis presented in the tables. While the majority of those on the scheme were weekly paid, and so typically appeared in the statistics for every week, those who were not paid weekly only appeared in the weeks in which they received payment e.g. the Fortnightly paid staff only appeared in the statistics every second week and the Monthly paid staff every fourth week.

Corresponding PxStat tables providing the breakdowns of the numbers meeting the criteria for inclusion on the Live Register on a weekly basis are available. Please note that the county variable used for the Live Register tables refers to the county of the local welfare office and not the county of residence of the recipient.

There was some overlap between those who met the criteria to be included on the Live Register and those who benefited from either of the two COVID-19 income support schemes. These overlaps occurred due to the different frequency of the payments, and the fact that some persons included on the Live Register may have been receiving a payment and so might have benefited from either the PUP or the TWSS. In order to provide users with the correct total for the numbers who met the Live Register criteria each week or who were benefitting from one of the COVID-19 income support schemes Total (no overlap) series included in PxStat series LRW01, LRW03 and LRW04 counts each person only once. Because this total removes the overlaps between the schemes, it is not equal to the sum of the numbers listed for the three individual schemes each week and it should be used as the weekly total number of persons who are on the Live Register or are receiving either the PUP or the TWSS. This level of detail is currently available to Week 36 (week ending on 06 September 2020) only.

The CSO will continue to work with both DSP and the Revenue Commissioners to update the available breakdowns on a regular basis and to make additional relevant breakdowns relating to the schemes available. The PxStat series will continue to be updated for the duration of the income supports during the COVID-19 crisis.

Please Note: The CSO Labour Market Analysis area is compiling a list of users who have registered to be kept informed in relation to relevant announcements from the Labour Market area of the CSO. If you haven't already done so you can register your email address by sending an email to labour@cso.ie asking to be included on this user list

NB: The data included in all of the PxStat series (LRW01-LRW12) are subject to revision as more information relating to these schemes becomes available.

UPDATE 09 June 2020: Three additional tables providing NACE sectoral breakdowns for the recipients of both the PUP and the TWSS have been added to the respective files above today. The new tables include sectoral breakdown of the number of persons who received payments from the scheme each week, a cumulative total of the numbers who have received payments from the scheme and new entrants to the scheme. The sectoral breakdowns included here may be different to the breakdowns published by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and Revenue respectively due to different methodology being applied for defining NACE sector. The results included above are consistent though with the NACE codes as used within the Labour Market and Earnings area of the CSO. The sectoral breakdowns included above will be limited, initially at least, to those who are found to have earnings in the real time data from Revenue for January to March inclusive of 2020. Thus, they will not include NACE codes for those who are self-employed and not receiving a regular wage or those for whom we have no information of employment in 2020.

UPDATE 10 July 2020: We have included a new table in the TWSS file today of the numbers benefitting from the scheme by pay date classified by pay frequency. This new table should help users to better understand the gaps that might exist in the data contained in the TWSS tables in their current format in terms of the numbers being supported by the scheme who do not have a pay date in a particular week. 

UPDATE 17 July 2020: All of the TWSS Analysis Tables that we had been publishing previously are based on including someone in the numbers on the scheme just for the reference weeks that their pay dates fall in. We are now publishing a new set of tables which add the non-weekly paid staff into the numbers included as benefitting from the scheme for weeks that they did not have a pay date in but for which a pay date is likely to refer to. These tables are available as Tables 9-12 of the TWSS Analysis Tables file above. These new tables contain estimates of the numbers of persons who have been supported by the TWSS in each week since the scheme began.

These new estimates of numbers supported by the TWSS by week are available for the same breakdowns as the pre-existing estimates:

  • Table 9: Number of persons supported by TWSS by Sex and Detailed Age Group
  • Table 10: Number of persons supported by TWSS by County, Sex and Age
  • Table 11: Number of persons supported by TWSS by Nationality Group, Sex and Age
  • Table 12: Number of persons supported by TWSS by NACE Economic Sector

The tables we have been publishing before today only include someone in the TWSS count for a week if they had a pay date covered by the scheme in that week. If an employee is paid weekly, they will appear in all weeks for as long as they are on the scheme but an employee who is only fortnightly or monthly paid will only appear in the file every 2nd or 4th (or sometimes 5th) week. The new set of tables are designed to estimate how many people are being supported by the scheme each week even if they don't have a pay date in that week. For example, if someone is paid fortnightly and had a pay date every second week from week 13 through to week 27, under the previous methodology, they would only be counted every second week (in the weeks they have a pay date). This new methodology will include them in the estimated numbers being supported for each week from week 11 through to week 27 inclusive. Similar methodology is employed for monthly paid staff where they are included in the numbers for four weeks before their first pay date for which they have been referred to as being on the scheme and for all weeks between consecutive monthly pay dates up until the week containing the last pay date they are currently known to have been covered by the scheme.

Both the new and pre-existing weekly estimates for the TWSS are subject to revision each week due to the delayed filing of payslips by their employers. We have had to make a number of assumptions when creating these new tables, so these new estimates may also be subject to further revision if we receive additional information which we can use to fine tune the methodology.

The current methodology involves including a person in the numbers being supported by the scheme:

* for one week before their first pay date on the scheme for those who are fortnightly paid

* for two weeks before their first pay date on the scheme for those who are twice monthly paid (to account for 5-week months)

* for three weeks before their first pay date on the scheme for those who are four weekly paid 

* for four weeks before their first pay date on the scheme for those who are monthly paid (to account for 5-week months)

Persons will also be included on the scheme for all weeks in between the weeks containing their fortnightly, twice monthly, four weekly and monthly pay dates up to the week containing the latest pay date they have been found to be included in the scheme. 

The weekly estimates included in Tables 9 through to 12 of the numbers of persons being supported by the TWSS assume that all weeks covered by the first and last pay date that they are found to be on the scheme are weeks that person was supported by the scheme. It may be the case for those who are paid less often than weekly that only a portion of their first or last pay period is covered by the scheme, but the current methodology assumes that they have been covered for the entire pay period. Thus, the numbers in these tables should be treated as indicative estimates which may be subject to revision rather than a true count of the numbers being supported by the scheme.

If a person is monthly paid, they would be included for the numbers from the week containing their most recently monthly pay date and back to four weeks before the week containing their first monthly pay date under the scheme (to cater for the 5-week months). We would only propose to add them into the numbers being supported for more recent weeks if and when we see them as being still on the scheme after their payslip is filed for their next monthly pay date. Given the methodology we are employing, there is likely to be a significant fall off in the numbers for more recent weeks because of the numbers of non-weekly paid employees who will not be included in those weekly totals yet. Because of this likely fall off in the numbers, which is an artefact of the methodology being used, we have decided to publish these new tables with a lag of several weeks to ensure that we are minimising the likely revisions to the series when we update the tables on a weekly basis. We will monitor the level of revisions to these weekly totals going forward to determine if it will be possible to publish the estimates in a more timely fashion without the likelihood of significant revisions to the estimates.

UPDATE 11 September 2020: The Live Register measures the numbers of claims registered for Jobseekers Benefit (JB) Jobseekers Allowance (JA) or credited contributions1.

The Live Register can be considered as consisting of recipients, where a claim has been awarded and the person is in receipt of a payment or credited PRSI contributions, and non-recipients, where the person is not in receipt of a payment. Non-recipient claims include:

  • Awarded claims where payment has been suspended
  • Claims pending award
  • Disallowed claims

While most Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) recipients are not counted on the Live Register, the payment has had an impact on Live Register trends. There are cases where both a PUP and jobseeker claim belonging to the same person have been registered with the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP,) but where no jobseeker payment is being made. This has resulted in overlaps between the PUP (recipient) and the Live Register (non-recipient). In cases where PUP claims transfer to the Live Register, this will mean a decrease in PUP without an equivalent increase in the Live Register. In cases of PUP exits to employment, non-recipient Live Register claims are being identified and closed where appropriate.

This process is currently underway within DEASP and relates primarily to cases where a person who received a PUP has since closed the claim and reported a return to employment. This will impact the Live Register totals, as some of these non-recipient jobseeker claims were included on the Live Register, but their jobseeker claims were not automatically closed at that time. Please see the published on 07 September which presents an analysis of recipient and non-recipient Live Register claims from the start of 2019 and shows how the breakdown of recipient and non-recipient claims have changed in particular since February 2020.

Given that the Live Register series has always included non-recipient claims, none of the values published over this period are incorrect. However, the CSO may consider revision of the Live Register to improve the usability of the series.

This will require assessing the impact of the non-recipients and particularly those who are in receipt of the PUP enumerated on the Live Register to decide on the correct approach to take. The time table and methodology for these revisions to the Live Register series will be clearly outlined to users as soon as a decision is made in relation to them.

For now, the CSO have decided to publish the using the usual methodology but are also presenting this recipient and non-recipient analysis to provide information and transparency around the impact of non-recipient claimants on the overall Live Register totals in recent months. The CSO have also decided to present the regular updates for the detailed weekly Live Register tables at this location.

It is important to consider the effect of the recipient and non-recipient analysis available in the when looking at the Live Register trends in recent months.

1 For example, jobseekers who have exhausted their entitlement to Jobseeker's Benefit but who do not qualify for Jobseeker's Allowance due to their means, they may be entitled to sign for credited PRSI contributions to protect their other social insurance entitlements (State Pension, State Maternity Benefit, Illness Benefit and other benefits that are based on the number of PRSI contributions).

UPDATE 25 September 2020: 

In March 2020, the Government introduced a range of measures to provide financial support for those whose income from employment was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland. The Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) scheme and the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) were set up and administered by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) and the Revenue Commissioners respectively. These COVID-19 income supports were originally set up as short-term emergency income supports but they have been extended several times and there have been changes made to the eligibility criteria and how the schemes are being administered. The current indications are that the PUP will continue into 2021 while the TWSS was replaced by the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) from 01 September 2020.

The CSO has been working with and will continue to collaborate with both the DEASP and the Revenue Commissioners to meet user needs for availability of detailed aggregates for the recipients of both the PUP and the TWSS respectively. Tables providing breakdowns of the numbers benefitting from the PUP and the TWSS and the numbers of persons on the Live Register for each week since March 2020 by sex, age group, county and nationality grouping are available below. The CSO has not yet received EWSS data but will continue to work with the Revenue Commissioners to source this data for dissemination to users as soon as possible.

The files below containing the data for the Live Register and the PUP now include totals up to week ending 20 September 2020 (Week 38 of 2020).

The TWSS finished on 31 August 2020 and no new applications will be accepted from that date so Week 36 (week ending 06 September 2020) will be the last week to contain TWSS data. Tables 1 to 8 inclusive in the TWSS file below contain tables relating to the numbers benefitting from the TWSS up to week ending 06 September 2020 (Week 36). The numbers included for Week 36 are significantly lower than other weeks as there is only one pay date in that week that is covered by the TWSS (Monday 31 August 2020). Tables 9 through to 12 of the numbers of persons being supported by the TWSS are being made available today up to and including the week ending 09 August 2020 (Week 32).

The Excel file containing the total numbers benefitting from all three schemes (excluding overlaps), i.e. "Total Live Register, Pandemic Unemployment Payment or Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme Analysis Tables (excluding overlap)" contains data up to the week ending 06 September 2020 (Week 36). Again, there is a significant reduction in the total for Week 36 due to the reduction seen in the TWSS for that week.

The data contained in the tables below are available through the CSO PxStat service under the current tables section for the Live Register. The data are contained in Tables LRW01 through to LRW12 at the link above. 

The Labour Market Analysis area of the CSO is planning to publish a further update to the income support tables below next week that will coincide with the Live Register release for September 2020, which is scheduled for publication on Thursday 01 October 2020. Given that the TWSS scheme has now closed and the EWSS data is not yet available for us to disseminate, we are considering deferring further updates to the files located below until the EWSS data is available.

UPDATE 02 October 2020: 

In March 2020, the Government introduced a range of measures to provide financial support for those whose income from employment was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland. The Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) scheme and the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) were set up and administered by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) and the Revenue Commissioners respectively. These COVID-19 income supports were originally set up as short-term emergency income supports but they have been extended several times and there have been changes made to the eligibility criteria and how the schemes are being administered. The current indications are that the PUP will continue into 2021 while the TWSS was replaced by the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) from 01 September 2020.

The CSO has been working with and will continue to collaborate with both the DEASP and the Revenue Commissioners to meet user needs for availability of detailed aggregates for the recipients of both the PUP and the TWSS respectively. Tables providing breakdowns of the numbers benefitting from the PUP and the TWSS and the numbers of persons on the Live Register for each week since March 2020 by sex, age group, county and nationality grouping are available below. The CSO has not yet received EWSS data but will continue to work with the Revenue Commissioners to source this data for dissemination to users as soon as possible.

The files below containing the data for the Live Register and the PUP now include totals up to week ending 27 September 2020 (Week 39 of 2020).

The TWSS finished on 31 August 2020 and no new applications will be accepted from that date so Week 36 (week ending 06 September 2020) will be the last week to contain TWSS data. Tables 1 to 8 inclusive in the TWSS file below contain tables relating to the numbers benefitting from the TWSS up to week ending 06 September 2020 (Week 36). The numbers included for Week 36 are significantly lower than other weeks as there is only one pay date in that week that is covered by the TWSS (Monday 31 August 2020). Tables 9 through to 12 of the numbers of persons being supported by the TWSS are being made available today up to and including the week ending 30 August 2020 (Week 35).

The Excel file containing the total numbers benefitting from all three schemes (excluding overlaps), i.e. "Total Live Register, Pandemic Unemployment Payment or Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme Analysis Tables (excluding overlap)" contains data up to the week ending 06 September 2020 (Week 36). Again, there is a significant reduction in the total for Week 36 due to the reduction seen in the TWSS for that week.

The data contained in the tables below are available through the CSO PxStat service under the current tables section for the Live Register. The data are contained in Tables LRW01 through to LRW12 at the link above. 

Given that the TWSS scheme has now closed and the EWSS data is not yet available to the CSO for dissemination, the Labour Market Analysis area of the CSO has decided to pause the publication of any further updates to the weekly income support tables below until the EWSS data is available for us to assess and prepare for dissemination. The CSO will take this time to consider and reflect on the breakdowns that are currently available and determine how best to proceed. The timing and frequency of further updates may be constrained by the frequency that we receive updates to data from the EWSS scheme. For example, it may be that the case that the tables available here will only be updated on a monthly basis going forward as we may only receive EWSS data on a monthly basis.

We are also going to work towards being in a position to provide additional breakdowns when we do resume publishing updates to the tables below, e.g. we are already working on providing a breakdown by 2 digit NACE and a breakdown of by 1 digit NACE and region which have been requested by users. If there are other breakdowns of these income supports scheme data that you have a requirement for please let us know by sending your requests to us via email at labour@cso.ie using the subject line: "COVID-19 Income Supports; Suggestions for tables". We will collate all requests and will work towards disseminating those which are feasible and practical for us to implement.

Please Note: The CSO Labour Market Analysis area is compiling a list of users who have registered to be kept informed in relation to relevant announcements from the Labour Market area of the CSO. If you haven't already done so you can register your email address by sending an email to labour@cso.ie asking to be included on this user list

NB: The data included in all of the tables attached below are subject to revision as more information relating to these schemes becomes available; the latest version of the aggregates will be available at this location.

UPDATE 10 May 2021:

An update to the detailed Live Register and the COVID-19 income support Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) weekly series was published on CSO’s new dissemination database system, PxStat (previously StatBank) today. These data are contained in series LRW01 through to LRW07 and are located at the link given under the Live Register section within the Labour Market domain of the CSO PxStat system. These weekly series were also previously available in Excel format. Following feedback received from users of these tables, it was established that most users who used the detailed COVID-19 income support data accessed it through the CSO database (currently PxStat and formerly StatBank). Those users who used the Excel tables indicated that they were happy to access the tables going forward through PxStat.

Based on this feedback and the additional overhead resources required by the Labour Market team in preparing the Excel tables, we decided to discontinue the publication of the Excel tables. Originally when the Excel tables were made available, the data was not published on PxStat. Users requested for it to be made available through the PxStat system as users could extract the most up to date version of these data to Excel if required.
Today’s update for these detailed tables will bring the weekly tables for the Live Register and the PUP up to date as of Week 17 (week ending 02 May 2021).

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) closed on 31 August 2020 and the CSO no longer receives updates from Revenue on TWSS. Therefore, the TWSS data contained in tables LRW01 through to LRW12 for Week 36 (week ending on 06 September 2020) only contains data for Monday 31 August 2020.  The Labour Market Analysis area has received data from Revenue on the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), which replaced the TWSS at the start of September 2020. For the first time, today, the CSO have made monthly EWSS totals available on the April 2021 Live Register  and on LRM20 up to March 2021.  Please see the Live Register release for background information on how the EWSS monthly estimates have been compiled. Weekly estimates of those being supported by the scheme will be disseminated later this month, and users will be notified in the usual manner.

Please Note: The CSO Labour Market Analysis area is compiling a list of users who have registered to be kept informed in relation to relevant announcements from the Labour Market area of the CSO. If you haven't already done so you can register your email address by sending an email to labour@cso.ie asking to be included on this user list

NB: The data included in all of the tables attached below are subject to revision as more information relating to these schemes becomes available; the latest version of the aggregates will be available at this location.