Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 November 2020
331. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Finance the number of companies on the list of companies published in receipt of the temporary wage subsidy scheme; the number of employees who while in receipt of the subsidy had their incomes topped up by the company concerned; and the amounts of these top-ups as a percentage of the employees normal weekly income. [35434/20]
View answer333. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Finance the reason numerous nursing homes have availed of the wage subsidy scheme for employees; the number of employees in the sector who were placed on the scheme; if these employees worked throughout the period in question; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35436/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 331 and 333 together.
The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) was administered by Revenue, on behalf of the Government, from 26 March 2020 to 31 August 2020. Over 66,500 employers received subsidy payments totalling €2.9 billion in respect of approximately 664,000 employees through the scheme.
Revenue has prepared a detailed statistical report on the TWSS, which is published at https://revenue.ie/en/corporate/documents/research/statistical-overview-of-covid-19-twss.pdf. This includes, in Table 9, the available information on additional (top up) payments made to employees by their employers.
In accordance with legislative requirements set out in section 28(8) of the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020, Revenue has published the names and addresses of employers who received TWSS payments. The list, which includes a number of nursing homes, is available at https://revenue.ie/en/employing-people/twss/list-of-employers.aspx for the Deputy’s information.
Approximately 60 employers that classified as nursing homes employed 3,100 staff that received TWSS payments over the course of the scheme. In keeping with Revenue’s confidentiality obligations under Section 851A of the Taxes Consolidation Act, it is not possible to comment on the specific cases. However, Revenue has confirmed to me that there was no restriction on nursing homes availing of the TWSS, assuming they met the criteria of the scheme in the same manner as any other employer from any sector.
