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Care home and domiciliary care workers are receiving their £500 payments for work done during the pandemic in Northern Ireland, the Department of Health has said.

The "special recognition" payment was announced by Health Minister Robin Swann in January 2021.

Payments to workers in the statutory sector began last July.

However, paying the money to staff in the independent sector is more complex, as workers tend to be more transient.

It is happening in two stages - phase one involves claims from employers for staff that are currently employed.

As of 26 January, 563 claims were received from care homes and domiciliary care providers.

Of these, 513 care providers have submitted the required documentation which have been processed with a total payment value of more than £14.9m to 25,714 individuals.

The second phase considers people who may have moved on to a new employer.

Details of this phase were communicated on 28 January to all independent sector care homes and domiciliary care providers registered with the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA).

The Department of Health said it was committed to "ensuring the recognition payment will be paid to the independent sector as soon as is practicable".

´óÏó´«Ã½ News NI reported in October 2021 that thousands of people working in care homes, domiciliary care and private hospitals were still waiting for payment.

Meanwhile, more than £10m has been paid in January to staff working in pharmacies, dentists, opticians and GPs.