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

I am afraid I do not follow the questions from Deputy Connolly. She asked me what was the way forward, and I said what the way forward was in the employment wage subsidy scheme. The report focused on the impact of the employment wage subsidy scheme on SMEs.

On the question asked by Deputy Carroll MacNeill, she raised an important point that is covered in this report, which is that there are parts of our economy that clearly are having or have had a slower recovery than other parts of the economy. The way in which we seek to recognise that is by the varying speeds of how different sectors will leave the employment wage subsidy scheme. I believe there will be a need to do further sectoral analysis, to better understand how different parts of our economy are responding to the withdrawal of supports. However, even with that analysis done, the Deputy will appreciate that we simply cannot maintain, nor is the Deputy calling on me to do so, an employment wage subsidy scheme that was introduced for a health crisis when the health crisis has passed. Even though many sectors are now facing new challenges, the solution to those challenges cannot be the continuation of this scheme. Yes, we will do more sectoral analysis, because it will be a key issue for our economy over this year.

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