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Wage Subsidy Scheme

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 November 2020

Tuesday, 10 November 2020

Questions (330)

Bríd Smith

Question:

330. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Finance if a company can send a worker who is in receipt of the wage subsidy scheme or the employment support scheme to another EU country to work during the period they are on the scheme even in cases in which the other EU country was not their original or usual workplace in the period prior to been placed on the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35433/20]

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Written answers

The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), was legislated for under the Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (No. 2) Act 2020. The EWSS is an economy-wide enterprise support that focuses primarily on business eligibility. The scheme provides a subsidy to qualifying employers based on the number of qualifying employees on the employer’s payroll and the level of gross pay paid to such employees. The scheme is not an income support for employees, but is a stand-alone measure to preserve the link between employee and employer and support firm viability through an unprecedented enterprise environment and it is based on clear, objective criteria that may be determined by the Revenue Commissioners.

The scheme has no role in relation to the employer/employee relationship in so far as the terms, conditions and entitlements of the employment are concerned. Such matters would be expressly outside of the remit of the Revenue Commissioners.

In terms of employer eligibility, the EWSS legislation requires that immediately at the end of each month, from August 2020 onwards, each employer availing of the EWSS must carry out a self-review of its business circumstances. Following such review, if it is manifest to the employer that it no longer will meet the eligibility test for qualification for the scheme, namely, at least a 30 per cent reduction in business turnover or customer orders in the period from 1 July to 31 December 2020 by reference to the corresponding 2019 period, then the employer must immediately cease claiming wage subsidy payments. Additionally, and unlike the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS), the employer must have a tax clearance certificate to be eligible to join the EWSS and must continue to meet the requirements for tax clearance throughout the scheme.

The administration of the EWSS has been placed under the care and management of Revenue, as was done with its predecessor, the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS). While Revenue’s focus on the EWSS in its early stages is concentrated on getting the scheme up and running and ensuring that all employers who are eligible for subsidy payments receive the payments in a timely manner, I have no doubt but that Revenue will, in due course, undertake an appropriate employer compliance campaign relating to employer eligibility under the EWSS.

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