The number of people receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment in Tipperary has risen by 26 percent since the Christmas break.
7,012 people in the Premier County were in receipt of the emergency payment on December 22nd, and that total has risen to 8,809 this week with Level 5 restrictions since re-enforced.
Nationally, 335,600 people are receiving the PUP this week, almost 60,000 more than before Christmas.
The Department of Social Protection has now distributed almost €5 billion in Pandemic Unemployment Payments since last March.
