Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 31 March 2021
53. Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick asked the Minister for Finance the additional financial assistance available to businesses to keep their employees working from home; if he has plans to change or amend such incentives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15406/21]
View answerOne of the main consequences of the current pandemic is that many people have been forced to work from home. Will the Minister explain what measures the Government will make available to these employees who have been forced to work from home, including financial supports to convert an area in the home to a proper working space? Will the Minister confirm what measures will continue to be made available in future?
As the Deputy is aware, the Government has introduced a series of supports to help businesses deal with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. These measures are specifically targeted at supporting businesses negatively affected by the pandemic in retaining their employees on payroll and include the employment wage subsidy scheme and its predecessor, the temporary wage subsidy scheme.
With regard to employees working from home, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is driving implementation of remote work with the national remote work strategy, Making Remote Work, which was published in January. This strategy includes the commitment that officials in my Department will consider the economic, financial and organisational implications arising from the experience of remote working during the pandemic and that the tax strategy group will review the current tax arrangements for remote working in respect of employees and employers.
As part of the standard tax regime, businesses may claim a tax deduction for expenses wholly and exclusively laid out or expended for the purposes of the trade or profession. This may include reasonable reimbursement of expenses incurred by their employees in the course of working from home, including additional heating and electricity costs. The Revenue Commissioners have confirmed that PAYE workers using their primary residence as a workplace during Covid-19 restrictions qualify as eworkers for the purposes of a Revenue statement practice allowing employers to pay up to €3.20 per day to employees in respect of working from home expenses without deducting income tax, universal charge or PRSI.
With regard to the provision of additional supports, I am conscious of the need to consider wider equity concerns for both employers and employees. We propose to consider those through the tax strategy group process that will yield the publication of papers later in the year.
I thank the Minister for his reply. I have been in contact with many people, including couples, working from home and the common theme is that while working from home, they require more supports and they are not happy with the supports they are getting. These people have needed to adapt certain spaces from which to work. Many people forced to work from home do not have access to reliable broadband, which is absolutely necessary for the vast majority of people working from home. I know one person who must wait until near midnight each night in order to send emails and work with other files because the broadband is so congested during peak hours. This is not acceptable and the Government must get real with the rolling out of the national broadband plan. Working from home is likely here to stay and the Government must help people like those I describe to work from home.
We are absolutely committed to the roll-out of the national broadband plan and I accept the Deputy's point that one of the very big questions undermining the ability of those who now must work from home in doing that work is the matter of broadband speed and connectivity. We are working hard to deliver that plan. Of course, the main issue we have is public health guidance that prevents some of the work being done. I hope as we move through the year we can commence the work again.
The Deputy referred to cost concerns. In many cases, the employer has a responsibility in the management of and help with some of those costs. The employer has a duty to their employee and I know that in many cases that responsibility is being taken seriously and discharged. There is a provision in our tax code, as I described, and we will look at the matter again through the tax strategy group process.
I thank the Minister again for his reply. In fairness, when I ask a question, he always gives an honest answer. People have space in their homes, including garages, spare bedrooms or in other locations. Would the Minister consider giving an adaptation grant to help people? If a person is waiting to reclaim tax, it could take a long time.
People are struggling at the moment. One can get an adaptation grant of maybe €4,000 or €5,000 to do up a garage. It is a snowball effect. Apart from making life more bearable at home, it creates jobs for people trying to get off the pandemic unemployment payment. Will the Minister consider giving a one-off lump sum to each person working from home?
In a lot of instances, I think the Deputy is right that these matters are better dealt with through the use of grants or payments rather than through our tax code. The difficulty of doing it through our tax code is if somebody has a low level of income and, therefore, pays a low level of tax, the ability of the State to help with expense can be weakened because they are not paying a lot of tax in the first place. That is why grants can, in general, be more effective in dealing with some of these matters. This will be something we will have to consider when we are clearer on what work practices will look like when we are in a better place in having suppressed the disease. There is an issue of equity to be considered, namely, that the employer has a responsibility and, in some cases, a duty to pay some of the cost involved as opposed to it all being borne by the taxpayer. That is what we need to tease out.
