Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 June 2020
26. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Finance if he will continue the temporary wage subsidy scheme into 2021 in circumstances in which certain seasonal sectors of the economy have passed their season; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13531/20]
View answer43. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Finance if he will review the temporary wage subsidy scheme to enhance the amount available for persons whose work is seasonal and increases in the summer months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12911/20]
View answer48. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Finance if he will expand the temporary wage subsidy scheme to include hotel workers and each other business that will return to work from 29 June 2020 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13051/20]
View answer51. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Finance his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding the temporary wage subsidy scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13199/20]
View answer57. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Finance if the temporary wage subsidy scheme will be extended for seasonal workers and employers that did not have staff in employment during January, February or early March 2020 but would have had full staffing at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13265/20]
View answer69. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Finance if an issue in relation to the temporary wage subsidy scheme will be addressed (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13499/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 26, 43, 48, 51, 57 and 69 together.
The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) is provided for in section 28 of the 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 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.
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. 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. There are no plans at the present moment to revisit the core criteria.
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.
The new Programme for Government contains a commitment that a July Jobs Initiative will be brought forward which will, among other things, "set out a pathway for the future implementation of the Temporary Wage Subsidy". The matter raised by the Deputies will be one of the many factors that will be taken into account as part of that exercise.
In relation to other direct support measures, I would draw the Deputies' attention to a recent publication by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, which outlines the key financial supports and resources that are being made available to help all businesses and sectors impacted by Covid-19. This publication is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/c644c0-supports-for-businesses-impacted-by-covid-19/
