Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the date of 31 January 2021 is fixed in the legislation, I do not have the ability to extend beyond that date. In the normal operation of the EWSS, flexibilities are open to me regarding how it operates but the higher rates are fixed in legislation until the end of January next year. I will take stock of this issue as we approach that point and make further decisions about the EWSS.

On the Deputy's point about county-specific or regional-specific schemes, the reason we introduced the CRSS was to try to have a measure in place that will be specific to different geographical areas of the country. I anticipate this will continue to play a role in supporting businesses that are subject to higher levels of public health guidance than business in other parts of the country. The EWSS and TWSS are nationwide schemes and I do not have flexibility with regard to those schemes. I am concerned about how it would be possible to operate such a scheme unless it is nationwide.