Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 December 2020
174. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will report on the restart grant and restart grant plus; if all funding has at this point been paid out; the details of same by county in tabular form; his plans to launch a similar scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43955/20]
View answerThe Restart Grant and Restart Grant Plus schemes were designed to help small and medium sized businesses get back on their feet after what has been an exceptionally difficult time.
The purpose of the schemes was to help with the cost of reopening or adapting business premises so that normal business could resume. Grant payments were administered by the Local Authorities via the commercial rates system as this was considered the most effective means to get urgent financial assistance to small businesses impacted by COVID-19. All necessary funding has been disbursed to the Local Authorities who continue to process outstanding applications.
The Restart Grant Plus scheme closed to new applications on 31 October and the COVID Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) operated by the Revenue Commissioners is now in place. Accordingly, there are currently no plans to introduce a similar scheme.
In total, over 118,600 applications have been managed under both Restart schemes. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the 31 local authorities and the Local Government Management Agency for the efficiency with which they have managed applications under both schemes.
I have set out separately in tabular form the information requested by the Deputy as at 11 December 2020.
