I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 87 together.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unparalleled impact on businesses across the economy although it is evident that the impacts have not been felt uniformly across all sectors or cohorts.
The PUP data which is released on a weekly basis can assist in analysing the impact of restrictions on employment and, by proxy, business. A review of changes in PUP claimants following movements between restriction levels indicates that the move from level 3 to higher levels is a significant inflection point in terms of employment changes. Less differential in the impacts on business is expected in moves between Level 5 and Level 4.
Three sectors, Accommodation and Food Services, Wholesale and Retail Trade and Administrative and Support Services, accounted for 54% of the almost 333,000 PUP claimants as of November 3rd. The impact of the move to level 5 is particularly high in the Accommodation and Food Services and Wholesale and Retail Trade sectors, with increases of 115% and 68% respectively.
Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) data also shows the high impact on the accommodation and food services and wholesale and retail sectors, with 30% and 11% respectively of the 341,000 employments supported by the scheme coming from those two sectors.
It is also evident that the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on small business. Almost 95% of the 32,700 employers availing of the EWSS in September were small and micro enterprises. Small businesses and micro enterprises accounted for almost 57% of the €254m payments processed by Revenue for September. 67% have less than 10 employees and accounted for almost 20% of the subsidy paid.
A systemic approach to sustaining and growing the domestic SME sector, improving SME productivity, and building resilience in SMEs will be a key part of our forthcoming National Economic Plan delivered through an ambitious SME Growth Plan currently being developed by the SME Growth Taskforce that I chair.