Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To insert the following after “Dáil Éireann on 13th January, 2021”:

“,

notes that: — businesses have been significantly impacted by restrictions introduced by the Government under public health regulations to combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic;

— the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme has been a vital and effective financial support for many businesses that have been significantly impacted by Covid-19 restrictions; and

— many businesses that have been significantly impacted by restrictions introduced by the Government under public health restrictions to combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are not eligible to make a claim under the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme on the grounds that they do not ordinarily carry on a business activity on a fixed business premises and/or cannot demonstrate to the Revenue Commissioners that, as a direct consequence of Covid-19 restrictions, customers are prohibited or significantly restricted from accessing their business premises; recognises that: — as a result of these eligibility criteria, many businesses that do not qualify to make a claim under the Covid Restriction Support Scheme are struggling to meet non-payroll expenses;

— liquidity support to these vulnerable businesses is essential to assist them in meeting their non-payroll expenses and to help ensure they are in a position to survive this crisis period and support the post-crisis recovery; and

— the weekly cost of the Covid Restriction Support Scheme has been significantly less than that first projected by the Government when the Scheme was introduced; and calls on the Government to amend the eligibility criteria by providing that: — a person carrying on a business activity may be eligible to make a claim under the Covid Restriction Support Scheme provided that they can demonstrate that the turnover of the business activity in the claim period will be no more than 25 per cent of the relevant turnover amount;

— a person is not disqualified from making a claim under the Covid Restriction Support Scheme where their business activity is not ordinarily carried on from a business premises which is permanently fixed in place; and

— to be eligible to make a claim under the Covid Restriction Support Scheme, a person shall not be required to demonstrate to the Revenue Commissioners that, as a direct consequence of Covid-19 restrictions, customers are prohibited or significantly restricted from accessing their business premises.”

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle agus as a bheith ábalta freisin labhairt ar an rún seo os comhair an tsuí. Is é an chéad rud ná ba mhaith liom mo leasú féin ar an rún seo a mholadh sa Teach.

The motion is to approve the regulations made by the Minister to vary the level of payments made under the Covid restrictions support scheme during the Christmas period. The percentage adjustment order was made in accordance with section 11 of the Finance Act, which allows the Minister to vary the payment under the scheme for a specified period. There are a number of steps to be taken under the legislation before such an order can be made, including consultation with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and for a draft to be laid before the House. That draft was laid before the House on 13 January and the motion before us this afternoon is another step in that process for Dáil Éireann to approve these regulations. The order provides for a double payment for businesses for the three weeks over the Christmas period, starting on 21 December. The level of payment for each of these three weeks is increased from 10% to 20% of average 2019 turnover up to €20,000, and from 5% to 10% of turnover above that amount. However, the €5,000 weekly cap for payments remains in place. For example, where a pub owner was eligible for €1,300 per week under CRSS from 13 October, he or she was able to claim €2,600 per week for the three weeks beginning 21 December.

Sinn Féin will support any measure that is reasonable and provides additional support and much-needed relief for businesses that have been forced to close due to public health restrictions. Employers and employees are all struggling to keep their heads above water. We have spoken to many of them. The double payments that this order provides for were made in recognition of the fact that the financial impact for remaining closed over many businesses' most busy trading period in the year were, in our view, an appropriate and necessary measure to compensate for the losses brought about by the public health measures introduced by the Government.

Nationwide level 5 restrictions came into force on 24 December. While the Covid restrictions support scheme has provided relief for nearly 20,000 businesses, thousands more have fallen through the cracks. Those thousands are unable to avail of support due to restrictive eligibility criteria which exclude them. The Covid restrictions support scheme came into operation on 13 October. It did so with strict criteria in place for businesses which qualified for support. For a business to be eligible, it must carry out its business activity on a fixed premises. As the guidelines make clear, mobile premises or premises which are not permanently fixed in place do not meet the definition of business premises. Businesses that fail to meet this definition include thousands in the tourism, hospitality and events sectors and they are denied support despite their turnover falling through the floor. For a business to be eligible, it must be able to demonstrate that customers of the business are prohibited or restricted significantly from accessing those businesses' premises as a result of the Covid guidelines. The Government's guidelines state:

It is not sufficient that the trade of a business has been impacted because of a reduction in customer demand as a consequence of Covid-19, or that the business supplies goods or services to another business that qualifies for the support because, under the Covid restrictions, that other business is required to temporarily close, or significantly reduce, its [business] activity.

This means that suppliers to public-facing businesses do not qualify for this scheme despite the fact that their business and turnover is directly impacted by the Covid restrictions. As a result, these rigid and narrow criteria lock out tens of thousands of hard-pressed businesses, including suppliers, event managers, companies, taxi drivers, the outdoor activity industry, businesses without a fixed premises and many others. They are shut out and not able to avail of this scheme.

The failure to take account of the impact that Covid restrictions are having on supply chains in our economy is reckless and surprising. The Central Bank warned of the economic shock of Covid-19 throughout domestic supply chains as far back as April last year. The logic is not difficult to follow. Firms that supply goods and services to public-facing businesses are immediately hit by public health restrictions. The Central Bank found that suppliers' sales to businesses directly affected by social distancing policies that restricted the ability of customers to purchase from firms amounted to €13.5 billion annually. The Covid restrictions support scheme pays no attention to these suppliers and their importance to our economy.

The problems with the scheme are not new. They have been pointed out to the Minister previously and have been ignored by the Minister and Tánaiste previously. These issues were raised with the Minister by my colleague, Deputy O'Reilly, when the legislation came before the Dáil in November, while I raised them on Committee Stage of the Finance Bill. I, like all colleagues, have been in contact with businesses which, despite seeing their turnover fall by 90% or more, cannot access this scheme. They are locked out from it despite having non-payroll expenses and fixed costs to pay. On 19 January, 17 businesses wrote to me stating that it came as a shock to them, when applying for the CRSS, to be told by Revenue that even though up to 90% of their customers could not trade, they did not qualify for the scheme. This was despite their turnover being down by between 80% and 90%. They concluded by saying that to be told that they do not qualify for support under the CRSS is soul-destroying and that they are appealing for additional support.

There are thousands of such businesses and they employ tens of thousands of workers in our economy. The incomes and livelihoods of countless families depend on their survival. One business I spoke to at the weekend said that if does not see a light at the end of the tunnel regarding access to CRSS then there is no point in it continuing, because it cannot continue to fill the holes. To lock these businesses out of the scheme with no alternative in place is economically senseless. It is a glaring problem that we have raised with the Government since the scheme was first introduced. Many of these businesses are now borrowing to meet their non-payroll expenses and fixed costs. Without additional support, this growing debt burden risks a wave of insolvencies and job losses that will scar our economy and communities for years to come.

Our amendment to the motion notes that the Covid restrictions support scheme has been a vital and effective financial support to many businesses that have been significantly affected by Covid-19 restrictions. It also recognises that countless businesses, suppliers and those without fixed premises are excluded from the scheme.

They are struggling to meet fixed costs and non-payroll expenses. These businesses are crucial to our post-Covid recovery and staving off the scourge of unemployment. Our amendment calls on the Government to remove the eligibility criteria that lock these businesses out of the scheme. We completely dispute and refute the claim by the Minister that this cannot be done. Of course, if can be done and it should have been done if the political will was there. What needs to be done is to ensure that these businesses qualify for this much-needed relief. The arguments against doing so, which were put forward by the Government in November 2020, were weak. They are equally as weak, if not more so, today, given the economic environment and the continued restrictions that we are likely to face.

When the scheme was introduced, the Government projected that it would cost €80 million per week. In fact, it has cost much less than that. It has €220 million since it came into operation, which equates, on average, to less than €15 million per week. This is less than one quarter of the projected cost. Of course, the short-term costs are blown away by the long-term savings through business survival and reduced unemployment. The Minister and the Tánaiste have dithered on the issue of expanding the scheme and dealing with those who have been locked out of it for far too long. It is symptomatic of a broader sluggishness in the Government's response - a sluggishness that has denied mortgage holders and SMEs much-needed payment breaks from their lenders. Business, workers and our economy can no longer tolerate this sluggishness that is often mistaken for prudence. The consequences are too grave. Immediate action must be taken. I, therefore, call on the Government and all parties and representatives in this Dáil to support the amendment and to ensure that hard-pressed businesses are no longer excluded and locked out from this much-needed support.

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