Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 October 2020
34. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a grant to cover the fixed costs of enterprises that have been forced to close due to the Covid-19 pandemic will be provided. [29969/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs part of Budget 2021, we announced on Tuesday the new COVID Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) to provide targeted support for businesses. The scheme is designed to assist those businesses whose trade has been significantly impacted or temporarily closed as a result of the restrictions as set out in the Government’s ‘Living with COVID-19’ Plan. The scheme will generally operate when Level 3 or higher is in place and will cease when restrictions are lifted.
The Government will make a payment to eligible businesses, based on their 2019 average weekly turnover, to provide support at a difficult time and will be worth up to €5,000 per week.
The scheme will apply to business premises where the Government restrictions directly prohibit or restrict access by customers.
The scheme will be effective from 13th October until 31st March 2021, and the first payments will be made to affected businesses by mid-November.
On 23rd July 2020 I announced that in order to further support enterprises as the economy reopens and resumes activity, additional grant funding of €300m would be provided to businesses through an enhanced Restart Grant Plus scheme. The Restart Grant Plus scheme was designed primarily to help businesses which haven’t reopened yet and those struggling to do so. The Government carefully assessed the immediate needs of businesses and responded with a package of scale and speed to meet their most crucial needs.
This additional €300m provided in the July Jobs Stimulus package allowed further categories of businesses to benefit in that businesses impacted by a 25% reduction in turnover due to COVID-19 restrictions or downturn in trade will be eligible provided they commit to reopening and to hiring and sustaining employment.
Businesses that had to close their premises or had a serious downturn in business because their premises were not safe for employees and customers would have suffered significant losses during the early stages of the pandemic but would also have incurred ongoing costs and had additional costs associated with reopening and adapting their premises to make them suitable for workers and customers.
The grant is a contribution towards the cost of re-opening or keeping a business operational and re-connecting with employees and customers. The grant could be used to defray ongoing fixed costs, e.g. utilities, insurance, refurbishment or for restocking and measures to ensure employee and customer safety.
The closing date for the Restart Grant Plus scheme has also been extended to 31st October 2020 in order to make the scheme accessible to as many businesses as possible and particularly to those who have endured further restrictions in accordance with the Government’s Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19. Further information on top-up amounts and application forms are available on the websites of all Local Authorities.
The Restart Grant Plus is just one part of the wider range of schemes available to firms of all sizes, which includes low-cost loans, write-off of commercial rates and deferred tax liabilities, all of which will help to improve cashflow amongst SMEs.
Since the onset of COVID-19, my Department has worked to ensure that there are appropriate responses is in place to assist businesses that have been impacted by the economic disruptions arising as a result of the pandemic.
My Department has worked with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to develop three Government-guaranteed loan schemes operated by the SBCI and delivered through participating finance providers.
Each of these schemes provides support to COVID-19-impacted businesses depending on their needs:
COVID-19 Working Capital Scheme:
This scheme makes available working capital loans ranging from €25,000 to €1.5m to eligible businesses exposed to COVID-19-related impacts. Loans of under €500,000 are available unsecured. Loans under this scheme are available for terms of up three years to help businesses to innovate, change or adapt in response to the pandemic. These innovations may include adjustments to ensure that a business can continue to operate safely.
COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme:
This scheme makes up to €2 billion in lending available to eligible businesses. Loans under the Scheme range from €10,000 to €1m. Loans of up to €250,000 under the Scheme are available unsecured (except where this is a requirement of the product feature, as in the case of asset finance, invoice discount facilities, etc). Its focus is to provide additional liquidity to businesses in a wide range of sectors including primary producers and small mid-caps (employing up to 500). Loans under this scheme are for terms of up to five-and-a-half years. Resulting from the 80 percent Government guarantee, businesses will be able to avail of loans at reduced interest rates.
Future Growth Loan Scheme:
This scheme has recently been expanded and now makes up to €800m in lending available to eligible businesses to support long-term, strategic investment, including in response to COVID-19. Loans under the scheme range from €25,000 to €3m and are for terms of 7-10 years. Loans of under €500,000 are available unsecured.
Micro-enterprises that have been negatively affected by the onset of COVID-19 may also be eligible for lending from MicroFinance Ireland under its own COVID-19 loan scheme:
MicroFinance IrelandCOVID-19 Business Loan:
Loans under this scheme range from €5,000 to €25,000 and are available with zero repayments and zero interest for the first six months, with the equivalent of an additional six months interest-free subject to certain terms and conditions. Loan terms are typically up to three years.
All COVID-19 Business Schemes are under constant review in terms of the evolving situation and will be adapted as circumstances dictate. I can assure the Deputy that I will continue to work with my colleagues across Government and all stakeholders to examine how best to further assist businesses impacted by COVID-19 in the context of Budget 2021 and later as part of the forthcoming National Economic Plan.
For a full list of assistance for business please see https://dbei.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Supports-for-SMEs/COVID-19-supports/.
