It will cost at least €300 million a week for the Government to deal with the coronavirus crisis.
The Dáil is debating emergency legislation to support the hundreds of thousands of people who are expected to lose their jobs.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe says the cost to the State is only based on estimates and it could grow or diminish.
The Government has introduced two measures to help employees and employers.
The Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment is an emergency payment of €350 per week introduced by the Government for a 12 week period.
It's intended to compensate those workers whose employers cannot retain them on their payroll. The payment will also be made to people who are self-employed but whose trade has temporarily ceased.
The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme is a new scheme introduced to help employers retain workers on their payrolls during a period of reduced trading or temporary lay-off related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This new subsidy will cover 70% the net salary of workers, up to a maximum of €410 per week. Many employers will ‘top-up’ this salary to pay their workers as close as possible to their normal full wage.
Meanwhile, the ESRI has warned unemployment could reach 18 per cent by the middle of the year.
That's higher than the economic recession of the last decade.
It also says the economy could shrink by as much as 7.1 per cent by the end of the year.
