The Minister for Social Protection has acknowledged that as many as 400,000 people could lose their jobs here as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Regina Doherty said that last week the first industry her department had looked at was hospitality, where 140,000 are employed.
But she said a further 54,000 people work in accommodation and 200,000 in retail and these are just the obvious industries that will be impacted.
The minister said that every single day there is another industry she did not think was going to be affected a day earlier. So, as a result, the numbers could be as high as the more than 400,000 that some commentators are predicting, she acknowledged. "It could be as potentially as drastic," Ms Doherty said. "We haven't