Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 December 2021
62. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Finance if his officials have considered giving additional support to businesses and hotels that are just over the threshold for the employment wage subsidy scheme but still face challenges meeting overheads and costs of running a business during the pandemic restrictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62278/21]
View answerThe Government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been swift and robust, with a number of schemes created to support businesses and employees since the start of this pandemic. The Government remains fully committed to supporting businesses, employers and employees insofar as is possible at this time.
The objective of the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) is to support employment and maintain the link between the employer and employee insofar as is possible. The EWSS has been a key component of the Government’s response to the Covid-19 crisis. It is an economy-wide scheme that operates across all sectors.
In money terms, the overall support provided to-date (9th December) by EWSS is over €6.6 billion comprising direct subsidy payments of almost €5.73 billion and PRSI forgone of €902 million to 51,700 employers in respect of over 696,900 employees.
The eligibility criteria for EWSS are based on self-assessment principles and the legislation provides that an employer must be able to demonstrate that his or her business will experience a 30% reduction in turnover or customer orders between 1 January and 31 December 2021, by reference to the corresponding period in 2019, as a result of business disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) applies to businesses carrying on trading activities from a business premises located in a region subject to restrictions, which requires the business to prohibit or considerably restrict customers from accessing their business premises and as a result, is operating at less than 25% of turnover in 2019.
Subject to meeting the qualifying criteria, a cash payment equivalent to 10% of the average weekly turnover of the business in 2019 up to €20,000 and 5% thereafter, is made subject to a maximum weekly payment of €5,000, for each week that the business is affected by the Covid restrictions. A total of €704m has been paid out under the CRSS in respect of 25,500 premises.
Following the agreement of Government on 3 December 2021, my Department and Revenue sought to develop a proposal to modify the CRSS to provide for a supplementary subsidy for businesses which are subject to the latest restrictions on operating. The objective of the modified scheme was to provide targeted, timely and sector-specific support to supplement the reduced EWSS payments to the sector.
However, on further consideration and analysis of the available data, it proved to be administratively complex to design such a scheme and it would not be possible to have it operational ahead of Christmas as was hoped. The proposed modifications which included a change to both the turnover threshold and the rate, as well as consideration of a higher weekly cap, had the potential to significantly increase the cost of the scheme, particularly in the context of uncertainty around the trajectory of Covid-19 and the impact of the Omicron variant.
Therefore a decision was taken that a restoration of the higher EWSS rate was a relatively more efficient and effective way to support businesses in the immediate term. The CRSS will remain in place to support businesses who are required to close or significantly restrict customers from accessing their business premises, and who meet the qualifying criteria.
The enhanced rates of EWSS subsidy will apply for a further two months, December 2021 and January 2022. This will give certainty to businesses when they need it most.
The CRSS was due to end on 31 December 2021 but has now been extended to the end of January 2022. Provision has also been made to allow the Minister to extend the CRSS up to 30 April 2022 by Ministerial order if deemed necessary.
The Government and I have been clear that there will be no cliff edge to supports for employers, and we are confident that revised rates for the EWSS and the extension of the CRSS will give certainty to businesses when they need it most.
