Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has said he will indicate later on today that for incomes that are less than approximately €24,400 per year, the State will increase the subsidy available to employers from 70% to 85%.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Donohoe said that the State will also introduce "flexibility" on how the subsidy is paid. There are 42,000 employers on the scheme, Minister Donohoe said, and he highlighted that at its inception he had agreed that he would use "affordable change" to maximise the number of people in a job.
He said in the absence of a scheme there would be over a million people on the Live Register or in receipt of other forms of income support.