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Covid-19 Pandemic Supports

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 June 2020

Tuesday, 16 June 2020

Questions (41, 53, 58, 80, 85, 92, 99, 112)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

41. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Finance if he will give consideration to reviewing wage subsidies for casual staff in view of the fact that longer operating hours are now required and that wage subsidies should be proportionate to new working hours as opposed to looking at pre-Covid-19 payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10589/20]

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Holly Cairns

Question:

53. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance if he will extend the temporary wage subsidy scheme for the hospitality sector for as long as it is operating at reduced capacity due to social distancing guidelines, restrictions on overseas visitors and self-isolating procedures. [11529/20]

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Charlie McConalogue

Question:

58. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Finance if he will amend the temporary wage subsidy scheme to facilitate the needs of businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector to increase the number of hours an employee can work to a level in excess of the average level of hours worked by an employee during the scheme qualification reference period and allow the company to continue to qualify for a payment under the scheme for the employee (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10559/20]

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Peter Burke

Question:

80. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Finance if the Revenue Commissioners will be directed to amend the temporary wage subsidy scheme to allow for employers in the tourism industry to take on staff full-time under the scheme who may have worked reduced hours in January and February 2020 due to the off season; if he has considered the effect that this anomaly will have on the tourism industry taking on staff when their hours worked in January and February would have been significantly lower than the current demand; if measures will be taken to address this anomaly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11014/20]

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Louise O'Reilly

Question:

85. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Finance the future of the temporary wage subsidy scheme in the event workers still require financial support in cases in which their employment is not fully operational until mass gatherings are permitted; and the plans in place for the event industry. [11117/20]

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James Browne

Question:

92. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Finance if he will amend the temporary wage subsidy scheme to include newly-established businesses with new members yet to be enrolled on the payroll; if he will include seasonal businesses that closed earlier in the year due to renovations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11203/20]

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Éamon Ó Cuív

Question:

99. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Finance his plans to extend the temporary wage subsidy scheme to seasonal tourism businesses particularly in rural and coastal areas that close for the winter season each year and normally operate from 17 March or Easter each year until either the end of October or Christmas and are not eligible for the scheme under its present rules in order to ensure regional equity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11241/20]

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Catherine Connolly

Question:

112. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Finance the steps that will be taken to remedy the anomaly which prevents small businesses and companies which employ seasonal employees from availing of the temporary wage subsidy scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11424/20]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 41, 53, 58, 80, 85, 92, 99 and 112 together.

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) is provided for in section 28 of the recently enacted Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020.

The TWSS is an emergency measure to deal with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy. Of necessity, the underlying legislation and the scheme itself were developed quickly, having regard to the urgent Government objective of getting assistance to employers and employees, where businesses have been seriously affected by the pandemic and the necessary restrictions introduced to fight the spread of the Covid-19 virus. It must be accepted that the TWSS cannot be adapted to meet the particular circumstances of individual employers or employees.

In the context of the compelling need for immediate implementation of the TWSS, the scheme necessarily had to build on data returned to Revenue through its real-time PAYE system. The key conditions of the scheme, as prescribed in the underlying law, are that –

- the business is suffering significant negative economic impact due to the pandemic,

- the employees were on the payroll at 29 February 2020, and

- the employer had fulfilled its PAYE reporting obligations for February 2020 before, in general, 15 March 2020, but extended recently to 1 April 2020.

The latter two conditions were particularly designed with a view to preventing abuse of the scheme. The wage subsidy per employee is calculated based on the net pay reported for January and February 2020. The scheme does not distinguish between ordinary wages, shift allowances, overtime, bonuses or commission or between part-time or full-time employees. Moreover, the scheme has no role in relation to the employer/employee relationship in so far as terms, conditions and entitlements of the employment are concerned.

Accordingly, it follows that the TWSS can only operate in respect of an employee, whether full-time or part-time, who was on the payroll of the employer as at 29 February 2020. Thus, where an individual commenced a new employment after that date, or returned to the payroll of his or her employer after that date following a period of unpaid leave, he or she does not meet the eligibility criteria with the employer as he or she would not have been on the employer’s payroll at that date.

The Deputies will be aware that the Government decided on 5 June 2020 to extend the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) until the end of August. The intention is to continue to monitor the scheme closely in the coming period. I expect that decisions will be taken at an appropriate time on next steps for the TWSS beyond end-August. In this regard, I acknowledge that certain sectors will face particular challenges into the future as we re-open our economy, and this is one of many factors that will inform such future decisions.

However, there are no plans at the present moment to revisit the core criteria. The TWSS is built upon historic PAYE returns made to Revenue – this is fundamental to the operational of the scheme which has given support to over 530,000 employees.

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