DUBLIN: The number of people claiming temporary Irish COVID-19-related jobless benefits began to fall again in the last week after rising for first time since May in the previous seven days, government data showed on Monday.

Claims have more than halved since hitting a lockdown peak of 600,000 in early May and fell to 205,593 from 217,142 week-on-week. That was slightly below the 206,341 recipients in the week beginning Sept 21.

The employment affairs department said just over 7,000 people closed their claim in the last seven days, with almost 5,000 of those reporting that they were returning to work. Payments also ceased for some 4,645 recipients who failed to confirm their eligibility to continue to receive the payment.