Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 90 and 91 together.

The objective of the wage subsidy scheme is to support employment and maintain the link between the employer and the employee insofar as is possible. The EWSS has been a key component of the Government's response to the Covid-19 crisis. It is an economy-wide scheme that operates across all sectors. In monetary terms, the overall support provided today by the EWSS is more than €6.6 billion, comprising direct subsidies of almost €5.7 billion and PRSI forgone of €902 million to 51,700 employers in respect of more than 696,900 employees.

The eligibility criteria for the EWSS are based on self-assessment principles. The legislation provides that an employer must be able to demonstrate that his or her business will experience a 30% reduction in turnover or customer orders between 1 January and 31 December 2021, by reference to the corresponding period in 2019, as a result of the business disruption caused by the pandemic.

I draw attention to the fact that despite the exit from most public health restrictions during the summer, eligibility criteria were not tightened in the Finance (Covid-19 and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021, which was enacted in the summer and which extends the scheme beyond the end of June 2021. Indeed, the reference period to which the metric must be applied was broadened in that Act to span a full year, thus relaxing the conditionality to qualify to benefit from the scheme in most cases.

Many businesses were fully closed or limited in their capacity to trade due to the public health restrictions in place during the earlier months of 2021. This change in the assessment period meant that such businesses could generate the equivalent of up to 70% of their calendar year turnover from 2019 or customer orders for the remainder of 2021 and still remain eligible to claim support under the scheme.

To address the specific question regarding businesses, for example, hotels that are operating at just over 70%, such businesses would not be eligible for the EWSS as their turnover exceeds the threshold for support. The scheme is a calibrated in such a way as to ensure support is available for those businesses most adversely impacted by the pandemic. The eligibility requirement of a 30% reduction in turnover has been a key feature of the scheme since its since introduction. I have no plans to alter that criterion.

Deputies will be aware that against the background of the imposition of revised public health restrictions, the Government decided last Thursday that the enhanced rates of the EWSS subsidy will apply for a further two months, that is, December of this year and January of next. This will give certainty to businesses when they need it most.

In addition, the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS, is being extended to the end of January. Provision is also made to allow me to extend this scheme up to 30 April 2022 by ministerial order if deemed necessary. As Deputies are aware, and I thank them for their support last night, amendments to the Bill were tabled this week to give effect to the EWSS and CRSS schemes mentioned.

To conclude, the Government will, as we have done since the onslaught of this pandemic, continue to monitor developments closely and make the right decision at the right point.

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