Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I join others in wishing the Minister well in his new role. Is he aware that in some instances employers are paying their employees 70% of their wages despite requiring them to do 100% of their work while availing of the wage subsidy scheme?

Deputy Paschal Donohoe:I thank the Deputy. I am advised by Revenue that the question of an individual’s entitlements in an employment context, and the question of what wages an employer may or may not be in a position to pay such an employee in light of the impact of the pandemic, are matters that are outside the remit of the scheme. The scheme has no role in the employer-employee relationship insofar as the terms, conditions and entitlements of the employment are concerned.

The TWSS is provided for under the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020. Of necessity, the legislation was developed quickly, having regard to the objective of getting financial assistance to employers and employees. It is predicated on the employer wanting to keep the employees on the payroll and retain them until business picks up. The amount of the subsidy for each employee is based on his or her average net weekly pay reported for January and February 2020. However, the employer is expected to make the best efforts to maintain the employee’s net income reflected in the average net weekly payment for January and February 2020 for the duration of the scheme. At the same time, there is no minimum amount that the employer must pay as an additional payment to be eligible for the scheme, but for Revenue operational systems reasons the employer will need to enter at least €0.01 in gross pay when running its payroll.

Finally, details of subsidy payments made by pay date are available to view in each employee’s myAccount record on Revenue’s online system. This facility allows employees to see whether their employer is participating in the scheme and being refunded a wage subsidy on their behalf. Where the amount of subsidy paid is available from the relevant employer payroll submissions made to Revenue, that amount is also displayed.

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