Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 October 2020
91. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Finance the amount the State has drawn down under the European Commission instrument named temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27852/20]
View answerThe SURE instrument is intended primarily to support Member States with efforts to protect workers and jobs (such as short-term work schemes), and also support some health-related measures. The European Commission will borrow on financial markets to finance loans to Member States, allowing Member States benefit from the EU’s strong credit rating (AAA) and low borrowing costs.
On the 24th and 25th of August the EU Commission published draft proposals offering financial support to 16 Member States amounting to €87.4billion. These implementing decisions, granting temporary financial assistance were adopted by Council on 25 September 2020.
The Commission intends going to the market in final quarter of 2020 to start procuring the funding for the first tranche. This is expected to take a number of months and will likely be paid to Member States in instalments, meaning that it could be the early/mid part of 2021 before the full draw-down is paid to all applicants. No funding support has yet been paid to a Member State under SURE.
Ireland was not one of the first tranche of applicants. Following detailed discussion with the Commission it was determined that Ireland would be eligible to recoup the substantial majority of expenditure already accrued under the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) from SURE. The TWSS has been the main scheme implemented in Ireland to date that meets the application criteria for this European response mechanism.
A decision to make a formal application to the SURE loan scheme will be taken by Government shortly and the necessary information is being prepared at present. The Commission are aware of our intention to submit an application for funding.
