HUMPHREYS ASKS PEOPLE TO ‘SHOP LOCAL’ AS CHRISTMAS BONUS IS PAID OUT

Michael Fisher

Some 3,262 people in Co. Monaghan received their Christmas Bonus on Tuesday, totalling almost €933,000. Social Protection Minister and local Deputy Heather Humphreys released the figures as the Government announced the payment of a record €390 million Christmas Bonus to 1.6 million people nationwide. The first cohort to receive the Christmas Bonus were those in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP). Other groups such as pensioners, people with disabilities, carers and lone parents were also paid this week.

This year, as an exceptional measure, the Government decided that the bonus payment should be made to people in receipt of PUP or a jobseeker’s payment for at least four months (seventeen weeks). Announcing the figures…