Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 November 2020
163. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if Tipperary County Council will be allocated additional funding in order to issue the 30% grant to business start-ups in view of the fact the council has stated that it has no more resources for the grants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36356/20]
View answerThe Restart Grant scheme was launched on 15 May with a budget of €250 million. The Restart Plus scheme was launched on 10 August with an additional budget of €300m from the Government’s July Jobs Stimulus as a result of the increasing demand for the scheme.
The purpose of the scheme is to help with the cost of reopening or adapting business premises so that normal business can resume. Grant payments are administered by the Local Authorities via the commercial rates system. This was seen as the most effective means to get urgent financial assistance to small businesses impacted by COVID-19. Disbursements are made through Enterprise Ireland to the Local Authorities, based on estimated schedules per county.
Since the introduction of the Restart Plus scheme, several top-up payments were approved by Government to deal with additional financial pressures caused by necessary COVID-19 restrictions implemented in certain counties. These included top-ups in Kildare, Laois and Offaly, a top-up for ‘wet’ pubs, top-ups in Dublin and Donegal, and most recently, a top-up of 30% for all eligible businesses nationally.
In view of the additional costs to the scheme arising from these top-ups, my Department has worked with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and Local Authorities on the remaining funding requirements over recent weeks and disbursement is now underway. If additional funding is required to fulfil all eligible claims, this will be considered in the course of the Department’s Further Revised Estimate currently under discussion.
The Restart Plus scheme closed as of 31 October and has effectively been replaced by the COVID Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) operated by the Revenue Commissioners.
