Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 June 2020
440. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the reason for the exclusion of commercially rated businesses within community and sports centres from the business restart grant scheme; her plans to provide supports to assist these businesses to reopen; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11320/20]
View answerOn Friday, 15 May 2020 the Government announced details of the new €250m Restart Grant providing direct grant aid to micro and small businesses. The grant is a contribution towards the cost of re-opening or keeping a business operational and re-connecting with employees and customers.
To avail of the Restart Grant, applicants must be a commercial business and be in the Local Authorities’ Commercial Rates Payment System, and:
- have a turnover of less than €5m and have 50 or less employees.
- have suffered a projected 25%+ loss in revenue from 1 April 2020 to 30th June 2020.
- commit to remain open or to reopen if it was closed.
- declare the intention to retain employees that are benefitting from the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS).
The primary objective, therefore, is to get funding into small businesses that:
- Are reliant solely on local trading income;
- Are financially independent from any group structure;
- Have suffered significant financial losses;
- Have had to bear ongoing fixed costs or faced costs associated with re-opening the business;
- Provide local paid employment.
In that context, sporting and community organisations are not eligible because they are not primarily commercial organisations and have sources of income other than commercial sales for example, membership fees.
The Restart Grant support is just one part of the wider €12bn package of supports for commercial firms of all sizes, which includes grants, low-cost loans, write-off of commercial rates and deferred tax liabilities, all of which will help those businesses to continue trading and to maintain employment.
For a full list of supports for business please see https://dbei.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Supports-for-SMEs/COVID-19-supports/.
In relation to support for community centres, my colleagues Michael Ring TD, Minister for Rural and Community Development and Seán Canney TD, Minister of State with responsibility for Community Development, on Friday, 8th May announced the launch of a €40 million package of supports for Community and Voluntary Organisations, Charities and Social Enterprises. The package consists of a €35 million ‘COVID-19 Stability Fund’ which will provide a level of support to qualifying organisations who are most in need and have seen their trading and/or fund-raising income drop significantly during the crisis.
