The temporary wage subsidy scheme (TWSS) closed at the end of August 2020, and I am advised that Revenue has been carrying out a programme of compliance checks on all employers who participated in the TWSS scheme to confirm eligibility and that the supports were properly paid out to qualifying employees. Revenue has confirmed that to date, compliance checks have been completed in respect of 64,710 employers, representing more than 99.6% of cases, with the remainder in progress. I am further advised by Revenue that the compliance checks have shown significantly high levels of compliance with the TWSS requirements by employers with 1,523 employers, approximately 2% of cases, having to repay the TWSS subsidy as they failed to meet the requirements of the scheme. Settlements in these cases totalled €27.7m.
Following a reconciliation exercise conducted at the end of June 2021 in respect of 67,525 employer registrations the overall TWSS liability due is €309m. There is €79.5m currently outstanding with approximately €63.5m of that amount included in the debt warehouse.
In relation to the employment wage subsidy scheme (EWSS), I am advised that Revenue is undertaking a compliance programme which to date has seen 7,223 employers availing of EWSS contacted, or 14% of the 51,450 employers who registered for the scheme. Of these, 2,584 were Revenue initiated contacts, and 4,639 were voluntary amendments made by employers where they were liable to repay EWSS subsidies to Revenue. The total amount collected to date is €50m with an amount of €7.3m remaining due to be collected. €6.4m of the outstanding amount is included in the debt warehouse.
The Covid restriction support scheme (CRSS) is a scheme designed to provide targeted support for businesses significantly impacted by restrictions introduced to combat the effect of the pandemic. I am advised that the compliance approach by Revenue is primarily focused on eligibility confirmation at application, with ongoing monitoring of claimants as sectoral restrictions change.
