Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 July 2020
334. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Finance his plans to protect the employment wage subsidy scheme from significant waste and abuse of funds in view of the warning from his officials regarding the temporary wage subsidy scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20474/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe legislation contained in the Financial Provisions (Covid-19)(No.2) Bill provides that certain elements, such as the turnover test threshold, may be revised in the event that there is an opportunity to make changes that minimise deadweight while also fulfilling the objective of supporting employment as well as enabling employers scale back up their business.
The new Section 28B subclause (6) that is introduced by Section of that Bill contains the specific provision that recognises that, as Minister for Finance I have a duty to monitor the EWSS and have regular assessment carried out to determine whether it is necessary to adjustment the level of certain elements of the scheme, having consulted with the Minister for Social Protection and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Public Expenditure and updating as appropriate by secondary legislation. The specific elements are:
- the end date of the measure;
- the rate of subsidy and applicable income threshold per employee; and
- the turnover test to determine qualifying employers.
In additional, the legislation requires that immediately at the end of each month, from August 2020 onwards, each employer availing of the scheme must carry out a self-review of its business circumstances. Following such review, if it is manifest to the employer that it no longer will meet the eligibility test for qualification for the scheme, namely, at least a 30 per cent reduction in business turnover or customer orders in the period from 1 July to 31 December 2020 by reference to the corresponding 2019 period, then the employer must immediately cease claiming wage subsidy payments.
Finally, the administration of the EWSS will be placed under the care and management of Revenue, as was done with its predecessor, the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS). While Revenue’s focus on the EWSS in its early stages will no doubt be concentrated on getting the scheme up and running and ensuring that all employers who are eligible for subsidy payments receive the payments quickly, I expect that Revenue will, in due course, undertake an appropriate employer compliance campaign relating to the EWSS similar to the compliance exercise currently being undertaken in relation to the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme.
