A publication entitled “The Northern Ireland Poverty Bulletin 2018/19” was published today by DfC.

Following the joint announcement by Education Minister Peter Weir and Health Minister Robin Swann of a £12m package of measures to support the childcare sector, the scheme is now open to eligible childcare providers.

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has said that her Department will be pausing the recovery of benefit overpayments and loan repayments from a number of Social Security benefits for three months, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

As part of the preparations for the first wave, our priority was to ensure that the health and care system had sufficient capacity to deal with the rising numbers of Covid-19 patients.

Health Minister Robin Swann today spelt out a wide range of measures being deployed in Northern Ireland to protect care home residents during the Covid-19 pandemic.