I thank the Deputy for recognising the value of the CRSS. I will comment first on its national performance, after which I will provide the information requested by the Deputy in respect of his constituency.
The registration system for the CRSS was released by Revenue on 1 November. Up to 26 November 2020, 10,200 businesses had registered for the scheme in respect of 11,100 business premises. Revenue has informed me that a further 3,700 applications are being processed. To put those figures in context, at the very early stage of implementation of the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, there were 22,000 employers registered. The eligibility criteria for the CRSS are a lot tighter than for the EWSS because the former requires a business either to be closed or to have a very low level of trading.
In regard to the Deputy's constituency, as of 23 November, there were approximately 100 businesses registered for the CRSS in County Offaly and a further approximately 100 businesses registered in County Laois.