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

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I acknowledge that he has raised this with me on a number of occasions. I appreciate that a number of businesses we value and that provide very valuable employment to our country find themselves in a position that they are slightly outside the entry threshold of a 30% decline in their business.

This figure of 70% has now been consistently in place since our wage subsidy schemes have been introduced - both for temporary wage subsidy scheme, TWSS, and the EWSS. We have always had and clearly communicated an unchanging reference period for turnover and reference decline threshold. For some time now, under the EWSS in particular, we have maintained the approach that a business can only enter the scheme if their its turnover decline is 30% or more. I have no plans to change it because of how clear it has been for so long. Any threshold I fix is will face the challenges of business that are slightly outside of it.

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