An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that the Pandemic Unemployment Payment is to be extended by "months, not weeks". Varadkar has stated that those who were working full time before the crisis will continue to receive the €350 per week payment, but this will be reduced for part-time workers, who will see their payments reduced to €203 in line with the jobseeker's allowance, The Independent reports. The government has confirmed that they will be extending the unemployment scheme and the temporary wage subsidy scheme past the original June date. As it stands, there are 543,200 people claiming the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment of €350 a week with the number of people claiming the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment falling by 36,200 since last week. Meanwhile, 57,800 employers have registered for the temporary wage subsidy scheme. According to The Independent, 64,000 employees have returned to work since the beginning of Phase 1 of the lifting of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions on May 18. Minor changes to the roadmap are being discussed ahead of an announcement tomorrow. Chief Medical Officer Tony Holahan has said that 'easing burden of lockdown restrictions on young children and their parents' is on the agenda with the reopening of playgrounds among the items that could be brought forward. READ NEXT: Free Now has introduced a partition option when booking a taxi