Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The restart grant was launched on 22 May and is a critically important tool to assist small businesses in reopening their doors. Grant payments range from a minimum of €2,000 to a maximum of €10,000. The scheme was devised in recognition of the fact that microbusinesses and small businesses were and are particularly vulnerable to the economic effects of Covid-19. Using funding allocated by my Department to Enterprise Ireland for the scheme, local authorities are the granting authorities in each of their respective areas.

Some €250 million was allocated to the scheme, and roughly 40,000 companies have applied. That will come to a value of approximately €120 million or €130 million, so there is still a lot yet to apply. Local authorities have been mixed in their capacity to pay the money out, but we are certain that more will be paid out. What we are examining for next week is limited to companies with 50 employees or fewer. We are considering whether the scheme should be expanded to companies with more employees. The average country hotel will have more than 50 employees. They need to get reopened. Educational and other businesses can also have more than 50 employees. In addition, it has not been open to non-rateable businesses such as B&Bs. We need to look at a few businesses like that and consider whether we can extend the scheme to them. However, it should always be seen as part of a wider assistance package for businesses and firms of all sizes.

The main measure is the wage subsidy scheme, which, for most employers I meet, is the one they most want to see extended. It is the issue that is raised most with me by employers. That has already cost about €2 billion. There is the pandemic unemployment scheme for the self-employed and sole traders. We are encouraging them to come off it with an upfront payment. There are low-cost loans, the write-off of commercial rates and the deferred tax liabilities. All of these have helped to improve the financial position of SMEs. It is encouraging that 67,000 people came off the pandemic unemployment payment last week. Some went back into employment and some went back into employment through the wage subsidy scheme. If we can keep up that kind of momentum in the next couple of weeks, we could be heading for a faster recovery than we might have thought possible but I think it will be a bumpy road.

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