The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has said it has experienced unprecedented demand for income supports since 13th March.
The level of demand equates to 10 months of normal claim-load in just 10 working days.
The Department says it is processing these claims as fast as possible with staff working long hours to ensure that claims are processed as quickly as possible.
The first Covid-19 related payments, for around 90% of claims received from 13th–19th March were issued last Friday, March 20th, and were in customer’s bank accounts on Tuesday, March 24th.
Some payments did not go forward for various reasons. The department says this is normal and may be due to some claims not meeting eligibility criteria. Other payments may have been held back because of an error with an IBAN number or an inconsistency between PPSNs. The Department is working to resolve these issues and is contacting the customers concerned directly.
This week, nearly all claims received since 19 March and up to close of business yesterday (Thursday, March 26th) will be processed for payment today, Friday and will be in customer’s bank accounts on Tuesday 31 March.
The Department is processing payments into Irish bank accounts and via the Post Office network only and wishes to reassure people that where they are entitled they will receive a payment from the Department as soon as possible. Should there be any issues with individual payments the Department will contact the claimants directly.
For updated and factual Public Health information and advice on COVID-19 Coronavirus, please visit hse.ie/coronavirus or call 1800 700 700
For the latest information on the Covid-19 Vaccine Programme, please visit hse.ie/covid-19-vaccine
