More than 283,000 people have received social welfare payments after losing their jobs because of the coronavirus.
The Department of Social Protection has had 323,000 individual applications from people who have been made unemployed over the past two weeks.
These figures provide a first real sense of the sheer scale of job losses because of the crisis.
In just two weeks, the number of people getting a wage subsidy payment from the government has more than doubled.
There have been around 323,000 individual applications from people who have lost their jobs with 283,000 payouts from the government so far.
Assistant Secretary at the Department of the Taoiseach Liz Canavan said more still have been ruled ineligible.
She said: "15,000 applications were deemed ineligible for a variety of reasons, for example, because individuals were not fully employed, were aged under 18 years, or were previously not in employment."
In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic payment, 25,000 payments have been made to employers under the wage subsidy scheme.
The figures show in the region of 300,000 people have lost their jobs so far because of the coronavirus crisis.
The Department says the number of applicants represents a 19-month wage claim-load in just 14 days.
It comes as Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty said that the coronavirus pandemic is presenting a 'once in a century challenge' to Irish society.
Earlier today she told Newstalk Breakfast that she is expecting a rise in applications for the new wage subsidy scheme.
Reporting by Seán Defoe
