Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 May 2020
411. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation further to her written reply to the statement by this Deputy in Dáil Éireann on commercial landlords, if she has received a response from the Attorney General on the protection of businesses that are unable to pay commercial rents; if she has had an opportunity to consider this issue further; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7262/20]
View answerCommercial leases are primarily a contractual matter for the parties involved. However, as the Deputy rightly notes, I wrote to the Attorney General seeking his views on whether a provision similar to that introduced in the UK, essentially banning evictions during the crisis, could be made in law here in Ireland. I also asked him to consider if legislation could provide for a moratorium for businesses being required to pay rent for a premises, or portion of a premises, that it cannot use due to it adhering to restrictions.
I received a response on 13th May in which the Attorney General advises that there are significant legal difficulties in respect to both of the questions posed. The difficulties stem from a variety of legal bases including statutory, constitutional, contract and common law. I have asked my officials to consider the advice.
I have also asked my officials to raise the matter of commercial rents and leases across a number of Government Departments. An initial inter-departmental discussion has already taken place and I understand further engagement is underway with a range of stakeholders, including groups representing businesses and landlords, to gain additional insights and gather intelligence to inform any further discussions. I have also asked my officials to look into the different responses from other countries and to identify possible options for supports.
While different options are being explored, I would point out that any support to business in respect of rents alone would ultimately end up as a support to the landlord. Not only would it be difficult to estimate the costs involved for such a scheme, but the offering of support, or even the perception that such supports will be forthcoming, may affect the market and lessen the impetus for landlords to renegotiate with tenants.
The Government is committed to ensuring as many businesses as possible survive this challenging period, and it will continue to look at how we can support businesses that have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
I would like to point out that, on 2nd May, the Government announced an additional suite of measures to further support small, medium and larger business that have been negatively impacted by Covid-19. These included:
- A €10,000 restart grant for micro and small businesses based on a rates waiver / rebate from 2019 (see further information below);
- A three-month commercial rates waiver for impacted businesses;
- A €2 billion COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme to support lending to SMEs for terms ranging from 3 months to 6 years, which will be below market interest rates;
- A €2 billion Pandemic Stabilisation and Recovery Fund within the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), which will make capital available to medium and large enterprises on commercial terms; and
- The ‘warehousing’ of tax liabilities for a period of twelve months after recommencement of trading during which time there will be no debt enforcement action taken by Revenue and no interest charge accruing in respect of the warehoused debt.
The issue of supporting fixed costs, including commercial rents, was very much to the fore of our minds when the Government recently introduced the Restart Grant which will give direct grant aid to micro and small businesses to help them with the costs associated with re-opening and re-employing workers following COVID-19 closures. This grant will provide funding to enable small and micro business reconnect with their employees and customer base by helping to defray ongoing fixed costs and the costs, such as PPE, associated with re-launching the business.
The Grant will be available to businesses with a turnover of less than €5m and employing 50 people or less, which were closed or impacted by at least a 25% reduction in turnover out to 30th June 2020. It is a contribution towards the cost of re-opening or keeping a business operational and re-connecting with employees and customers. The grants will be equivalent to the rates bill of the business in 2019, with a minimum payment of €2,000 and a maximum payment of €10,000.
Further information on all of these and additional Government supports for COVID-19 impacted businesses can be found at www.gov.ie or on my Department’s website (https://dbei.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Supports-for-SMEs/COVID-19-supports/).
