Mr. Declan Hughes:

I thank the Senator for his questions. I wish we were in a position to set the regulations and the timeline. Those decisions are made from a public health perspective, but certainly the roadmap as published by the Government, depending on the numbers, has firmly indicated that, all going well, click and collect will be back in May. That would be step one. We would be supportive of that development, but it is dependent on public health advice and those regulations are obviously made by the Department of Health, in conjunction with the Department of the Taoiseach. We will, however, input into that process. What we and the Minister of State, Deputy English, have been saying to the retail sector is to prepare on that basis. Things change and who knows what variants or other developments might happen, but I concur with that view.

I do not have the details regarding the CRSS as it is a Revenue scheme, but we can provide that to the Senator. Looking at the temporary wage subsidy scheme, however, it is possible to see that a high proportion of businesses, more than 70% of those in motor retail and repair, availed of the scheme. There were similarly high numbers in the wholesale area. Figures for the TWSS indicate that 30% to 40% of retail businesses availed of the scheme, which would tally. We hope that all retail outlets impacted by the current level 5 restrictions are benefiting from CRSS on the basis that they have a relationship with Revenue, they are on the system and they should be able to avail of the scheme. If they are not, they should then be able to come in and get the SBASC. An example would be if a retail outlet is not closed on public health ground but perhaps for other reasons or revenue is down 75% because the trade just is not there.

As I mentioned, approximately 22% of applicants for the SBASC, which is a scheme we know about, are from the wholesale and retail sector. We are certainly happy to follow up for the Senator on the CRSS data.