State inspectors cut PUP payments to more than 37,000 working claimants

Pandemic payments were stopped after data-matching showed thousands were still claiming support while back at work

Checks revealed that around 37,400 workers were being employed while still claiming the PUP. Around 6,400 of them were detected in 2020 during the first year of the PUP, while another 31,000 were detected last year

Social welfare inspectors cut off pandemic unemployment payments to 37,000 people after a data-matching exercise revealed they were back at work, while almost 1,000 people had their PUP payments cut off after their employers reported them to the authorities, it has emerged.

The details are contained in briefing material about the Department of Social Protection’s investigations into fraudulent PUP claims.

Inspectors at the department, led by Heather Humphreys, the Minister for Social Protection, were able ...