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

I thank the Deputy for his question. As he will be aware, the Government launched its economic recovery plan last Tuesday. It will restore our public finances to good health through employment and not austerity, by going for growth and not retrenchment, and by aiming for a rapid recovery. It will help to restore existing jobs and create new ones in areas like construction, climate action and digital transformation. We have set the target to have 2.5 million people at work in Ireland by 2024, setting a new record. It is also about building a new economy that is more inclusive and more secure with a move to a living wage, sick pay, occupational pensions for all workers, flexibility in the workplace, remote working and more opportunity for training, education, research and gender equality. We intend to rebuild sustainable enterprises through targeted financial supports and policies to make enterprises more resilient and productive. We want to achieve a balanced and inclusive recovery through strategic investment in infrastructure and reforms that enhance our long-term capacity for growth, through balanced regional development and through improvements in living standards.

The measures outlined in the economic recovery plan include an extension of the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, until the end of the year; an extension of the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, until February of next year; a commitment that the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS, will run indefinitely; considerable enhancement of both EWSS and CRSS in how they are calculated; an extension of the commercial rates waiver into the third quarter of the year; an extension of the tax debt warehousing scheme to the end of the year, with no interest next year; assistance for the worst affected sectors including aviation, tourism and events as they continue to reopen; an extension of the 9% VAT rate for tourism and hospitality sector until September of next year; and dedicated schemes for the live entertainment and events sector which will be announced later in the month. I recently announced an expansion of the small business assistance scheme for Covid-19, which now under phase 2 will include eligibility for businesses operating from non-rateable premises and thereby cover those working from home, and a microenterprise fund for those with a turnover of less than €50,000.

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