Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The section deals with the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS. As we acknowledged on Second Stage, much of the Bill relates to issues that have taken place, such as the extension of some of the supports during Covid. Some of those supports have now expired while others will expire in the coming weeks. A certain number of them will have a slightly longer tail. There will be very few issues in respect of things that have already taken effect.

The Minister will note that the quarterly bulletin published by the Central Bank today stated that 10% of the workforce is currently working and receiving supports through the EWSS. How confident is he that when this support is withdrawn - some of it runs to the end of April - those jobs will remain viable? Is he concerned that a large number of jobs in companies are being kept alive by the scheme? Has the Department carried out analysis in that regard?