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

We gave consideration as to whether further conditionality would be merited for access to the scheme, beyond where we were with turnover and tax compliance. I decided when we were introducing the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, that this would not be appropriate. The reason was that I anticipated a very low level of dividend payments, if any, being made across the period. I also had a number of concerns regarding the execution of such conditionality, were it to be brought in. My principal concern was that if limitations were put in place regarding the non-payment of dividends in the period in which a company is participating in the scheme and a company made a profit during that period, for which, in normal circumstances, it would either be required to make a dividend payment for tax reasons or would make a dividend payment because of an expectation of shareholders or private owners, it would simply raise the prospect of dividend payments being made after the scheme came to an end where that company had a level of profit that gave it reason to believe that dividends were appropriate.

Those are the reasons I did not have such conditions in place. As I indicated, I will monitor this issue when I consider the future of these schemes. It is important to be transparent and open with the Deputy. I will not make any changes that undermine what I believe is the central objective of this scheme, namely, the maintenance of employment and giving every chance for employers to be viable.