20 million PUP payments have been made in the last year totaling more than 6.3 billion euro.

Department of Social Protection figures show that 11.5 billion has been spent by the state in Covid related welfare supports.

That includes the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme and Enhanced Illness benefit.

Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys says the PUP has supported hundreds of thousands of workers, protecting them from a sudden shock to their incomes.