I must now deal with a postponed division relating to amendment No. 1 to the motion regarding the proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (Covid Restrictions Support Scheme) (Percentage Adjustment) Order 2021. On Wednesday, 27 January, 2021, on the question, "That the amendment be made", a division was claimed, and that division must be taken now.
Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (Covid Restrictions Support Scheme) (Percentage Adjustment) Order 2021: Motion (Resumed)
The following motion was moved by the Minister for Finance on Wednesday, 27 January 2021:
That Dáil Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft:
Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (Covid Restrictions Support Scheme) (Percentage Adjustment) Order 2021,
a copy of which was laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on 13th January, 2021.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To insert the following after "Dáil Éireann on 13th January, 2021":",
notes that:
— businesses have been significantly impacted by restrictions introduced by the Government under public health regulations to combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic;
— the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme has been a vital and effective financial support for many businesses that have been significantly impacted by Covid-19 restrictions; and
— many businesses that have been significantly impacted by restrictions introduced by the Government under public health restrictions to combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are not eligible to make a claim under the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme on the grounds that they do not ordinarily carry on a business activity on a fixed business premises and/or cannot demonstrate to the Revenue Commissioners that, as a direct consequence of Covid-19 restrictions, customers are prohibited or significantly restricted from accessing their business premises;
recognises that:
— as a result of these eligibility criteria, many businesses that do not qualify to make a claim under the Covid Restriction Support Scheme are struggling to meet non-payroll expenses;
— liquidity support to these vulnerable businesses is essential to assist them in meeting their non-payroll expenses and to help ensure they are in a position to survive this crisis period and support the post-crisis recovery; and
— the weekly cost of the Covid Restriction Support Scheme has been significantly less than that first projected by the Government when the Scheme was introduced; and
calls on the Government to amend the eligibility criteria by providing that:
— a person carrying on a business activity may be eligible to make a claim under the Covid Restriction Support Scheme provided that they can demonstrate that the turnover of the business activity in the claim period will be no more than 25 per cent of the relevant turnover amount;
— a person is not disqualified from making a claim under the Covid Restriction Support Scheme where their business activity is not ordinarily carried on from a business premises which is permanently fixed in place; and
— to be eligible to make a claim under the Covid Restriction Support Scheme, a person shall not be required to demonstrate to the Revenue Commissioners that, as a direct consequence of Covid-19 restrictions, customers are prohibited or significantly restricted from accessing their business premises."
- (Deputy Pearse Doherty).
Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 60; Níl, 84; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Andrews, Chris.
- Barry, Mick.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Brady, John.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Cairns, Holly.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carthy, Matt.
- Clarke, Sorca.
- Collins, Joan.
- Collins, Michael.
- Connolly, Catherine.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Fitzmaurice, Michael.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Gould, Thomas.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Gino.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McDonald, Mary Lou.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Munster, Imelda.
- Murphy, Catherine.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Nolan, Carol.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Pringle, Thomas.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Ryan, Patricia.
- Sherlock, Sean.
- Shortall, Róisín.
- Smith, Bríd.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Tully, Pauline.
- Ward, Mark.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
Níl
- Berry, Cathal.
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Colm.
- Burke, Peter.
- Butler, Mary.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Jackie.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Cannon, Ciarán.
- Carey, Joe.
- Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Collins, Niall.
- Costello, Patrick.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Cowen, Barry.
- Creed, Michael.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Donnelly, Stephen.
- Duffy, Francis Noel.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- English, Damien.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Fitzpatrick, Peter.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Grealish, Noel.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Harris, Simon.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Hourigan, Neasa.
- Humphreys, Heather.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Lahart, John.
- Lawless, James.
- Leddin, Brian.
- Lowry, Michael.
- Madigan, Josepha.
- Martin, Catherine.
- Matthews, Steven.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McGrath, Michael.
- McGuinness, John.
- McNamara, Michael.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Murphy, Eoghan.
- Murphy, Verona.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Noonan, Malcolm.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Brien, Joe.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Rabbitte, Anne.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Ring, Michael.
- Ryan, Eamon.
- Shanahan, Matt.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Smyth, Ossian.
- Stanton, David.
- Troy, Robert.
- Varadkar, Leo.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Denise Mitchell and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn; Níl, Deputies Brendan Griffin and Jack Chambers.
Amendment declared lost.
Note that in relation to the above division, Deputy Michael McNamara intended that his vote be recorded as 'Tá' rather than as 'Níl'.
Motion agreed to.