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

The answer to the Deputy's first question is "Yes". In order for a company to participate in this scheme from next year, it must be participating in the scheme for the month of December. I am aware of concerns that have been raised by a number of hotels that have a very high seasonal dimension to their business.

For a hotel or any business to be excluded from the scheme at the moment, however, means that its business performance is better than a 30% decline against the period in 2019. That means that business is trading probably not in line with how it would have hoped given the pandemic but is still trading better than a 30% decline in its turnover. The challenge is that any threshold I fix will have businesses that fall just outside of it. I am aware that is the case for some.

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