Voluntary work and social welfare paymentsIf you want to keep your social welfare payment and do some voluntary work, you must follow the rules set down by the Department of Social Protection.

COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment

The COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) is for employees and self-employed people living in Ireland who have lost their employment due to COVID-19. If you lost your job for another reason, you can apply for a jobseeker’s payment. You can get PUP if you are on a temporary lay-off from employment, or if you have been made redundant.

PUP is available to any registered employee or self-employed worker who has lost all of their work because of COVID-19 and is resident in Ireland. This includes people on student visas and asylum seekers.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) weekly rate from 16 October 2024 to 31 March 2024:

Average weekly earnings	Personal rate
€400 or over	€350
€300 – €399.99	€300
€200 – €299.99	€250
Less than €200	€203

If you have dependents, you may get a higher payment by applying for a jobseeker’s payment.

You must be genuinely seeking work to qualify for PUP.

Family payments

If you are parenting alone you may be entitled to One-Parent Family Payment. The other parent of your child may have reduced the maintenance they pay to support your child. You should notify your local Intreo centre in this case. You can get an increase to your payment for up to 12 weeks. After this, you payment will be reassessed.

You should also check if you qualify for Working Family Payment if you have dependent children and your hours or pay have been reduced.

If you are pregnant and getting PUP or being paid through the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), you can still apply for Maternity Benefit, Parent’s Benefit and Paternity Benefit. The time you spend on PUP or being paid through TWSS or EWSS is treated the same as a period of employment. If you are receiving PUP and have not returned to work before you are due to start your maternity leave, you should ask your GP to complete form MB3 (pdf).

Statements and Refunds

Here you can request a statement of the payments made to you, or a record of your PRSI contributions.

Contribution Statement

Request a statement of your history and record of contributions paid Find out more

Payment statement

Request a Statement of all Payments received. Find out more

PRSI refund

Apply for a PRSI Refund. Find out more

Other Social Welfare Payments

This page provides information on a range of other social welfare payments.