Revenue Commissioners

Tuesday, 14 November 2023

Questions (133, 135)

Louise O'Reilly

Question:

133. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Finance the money owed to Revenue due to overpayments arising from the employment wage subsidy scheme, by sector, in tabular form. [49947/23]

View answer

Louise O'Reilly

Question:

135. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Finance the money owed to Revenue due to ineligible businesses accessing the employment wage subsidy scheme, by sector, in tabular form. [49949/23]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Finance

I propose to take Questions Nos. 133 and 135 together.

Section 28B of the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 provides for the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), which was an economy-wide enterprise support provided to eligible businesses in respect of eligible employees.

The administration of the EWSS was placed under the care and management of Revenue.

As the Scheme was operated on a “self-assessment” basis, with employers signing a declaration stating that their business qualified for the Scheme, proof of eligibility was not requested at registration stage. In signing the declaration, employers agreed to abide by the terms and conditions of the Scheme and undertook to retain all records relating to the Scheme, including the basis of eligibility, for review by Revenue at a later stage.

I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that no EWSS overpayments arose as a result of Revenue paying out money in excess of what was claimed.

I am also advised by Revenue that since the commencement of the Scheme, Revenue has undertaken a multi-faceted approach to compliance checks to safeguard the integrity of the EWSS. This has included real-time risk-based checking of submissions and cross-referencing of claims data against other Revenue data sources to identify anomalies or trends requiring attention. During these compliance checks, with specific regard to the issue of ineligibility, it was agreed or determined that some businesses were wholly ineligible for the Scheme, some were ineligible for certain periods, some businesses were ineligible in respect of certain separate business divisions, and some businesses that were eligible had claimed in respect of some employees who were ineligible.

Following cessation of the Scheme, Revenue advise that in June 2022 self-review letters were issued to over 42,500 employers who had been registered for the EWSS. These letters informed employers that if they identified any invalid claims, they should correct their payroll records and repay the relevant subsidy and PRSI credit amounts no later than 30 September 2022. If an employer was eligible to participate in Revenue’s Debt Warehousing, any EWSS or related PRSI liabilities that they declared by 30 September 2022, could be included in the Debt Warehouse. Of the total money owed in respect of EWSS, the amount currently in the Debt Warehouse is €74 million, with the balance of €26 million subject to normal collection procedures.

Revenue is unable to provide a breakdown of the amount of money owed specifically by wholly ineligible businesses that claimed EWSS subsidies.

However, the table below shows, by sector, the total amount of EWSS subsidies currently owed to Revenue. As at 10 November 2023, the total accumulated EWSS subsidies outstanding amounts to €100 million. Accommodation and Food, Wholesale and Retail, and Construction sectors represent the highest contributing sectors, which combined account for 55% of the total EWSS subsidies owed.

Table - EWSS Debt outstanding by Sector

Sector	Amount of EWSS outstanding €
Accommodation and Food Service Activities	21,917,147
Wholesale and Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles	17,974,349
Construction	15,153,779
Manufacturing	9,222,124
Transportation and Storage	7,259,350
Administrative and Support Service Activities	5,386,744
Legal, Accounting, Management, Architecture, Engineering, Technical Testing and Analysis Activities	4,559,136
Residential Care and Social Work Activities	3,888,540
IT and Other Information Services	1,485,758
Arts Entertainment and Recreation	1,473,070
Agriculture Forestry and Fishing	1,472,743
Human Health Services	1,146,694
Other Professional Scientific and Technical Activities	1,054,174
Education	744,639
Publishing, Audiovisual and Broadcasting Activities	725,670
Real Estate Activities	703,703
Public Administration and Defence Compulsory Social Security	509,472
Financial and Insurance Activities	374,592
Scientific Research and Development	87,972
Telecommunications	44,881
Other Services	3,708,740
Other	1,156,570
Grand Total	100,049,846