To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail the expected rise in redundancies due to the COVID-19 pandemic over the next six months, unless support funds and grants further to those already announced are made available.

While my Department does not produce forecasts in this respect, it is clear that the economic impact of COVID-19 has been unprecedented and there has been an expectation that this crisis will lead to an increase in unemployment and redundancies.

We have already seen evidence of this to date with the latest Labour Force Survey estimates showing that the latest claimant count in November 2020 remains more than double the number in March 2020. Added to this, redundancies have shot up over the last few months. For example, in the last five months to November, my Department was notified of some 3,630 redundancies, 80% of the total redundancies confirmed within the last year. The Furlough Scheme and the ongoing actions of my Department continue to shield the economy from the full effects of the crisis but the risks of further unemployment and redundancies remain.