Some 63,000 people have closed their COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment claim in the last seven days.

The Department of Social Protection said it is the highest number of people to return to work in one week since the outbreak began.

The department issued payments worth €128.3m to 412,900 people today – 26,100 less than last week.

Some 44,800 will receive their last payment tomorrow.

The Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys said the figures show that the reopening of the economy is “picking up pace.”

“Some 63,000 people closed their claim in the last week alone which is very encouraging,” she said.

“With Phase 3 of the reopening Ireland Roadmap underway, an increasing number of businesses are now beginning to start back again.

“In the last week we have seen the highest number of people return to work in a single week, since the crisis commenced.”

The department said the sectors welcoming back their employees this week include food services, hairdressers, retailers and mechanics.

The largest cohort returning to work are aged 35 to 44-years-old.

The new two-tier payment rate structure for the payment will come into effect from tomorrow.

Anyone who was earning less than €200 per week before the outbreak will see their payment cut to €203 per week.

There are also around 410,000 employees working for 65,500 companies being supported by the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme.

Meanwhile, there were 220,900 people on the Live Register at the end of June.