Irish wage subsidy recipients little changed despite COVID-19 clampdown

FILE PHOTO: A man affixes a Christmas tree to the exterior of a restaurant that shuttered due to the government's highest level of lockdown restrictions, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues in Galway, Ireland, November 10, 2020. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

DUBLIN (Reuters) - The number of Irish workers whose wages are being subsidised by the state was little changed in October compared with September, even though COVID-19 restrictions were ramped up throughout the month.

Ireland tightened curbs to slow the spread of the coronavirus in mid-September, when indoor restaurant and bar service was banned in Dublin, a measure rolled out across the country on Oct. 5.