Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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457. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the rules regarding the restart grant; if the grant is based on 2019 commercial rates; the way in which that impacts businesses that do not pay commercial rates or businesses that have recently started and were not liable for 2019 commercial rates; if these businesses are prohibited from applying for the grant; if legislation is required to alter this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8007/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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On Friday, May 15^th, 2020 the Government announced details of the new €250m Restart Grant providing direct grant aid to micro and small businesses to help them with the costs associated with reopening and re-employing workers following COVID-19 closures; with the grant being administered by local authorities from Friday, May 22^nd, 2020.

Eligible businesses who have stayed open throughout the crisis, as well as those who are reopening under Phase 1 (from 18^thMay) and Phase 2 (8^thJune) of the Government’s Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business, are encouraged to apply for the Restart Grant. These applications will be prioritised for payment by the local authorities.

To avail of the Restart Grant, applicants must be a commercial business and be in the Local Authorities Commercial Rates Payment System and:

1. have an annual turnover of less than €5m and employ between 1 to 50 people;

2. have suffered a projected 25%+ loss in turnover to end June 2020;

3. commit to remain open or to reopen if it was closed;

4. declare the intention to retain employees that are on the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme.

Subject to the qualifying criteria outlined above, any business that has a commercially rateable premises including those businesses with outstanding rates bills are eligible to make an application if they meet the criteria. The grant will be the amount of the rates demand in respect of calendar year 2019 only, subject to a minimum of €2,000 and a maximum of €10,000.

If a company is currently in a rateable premise but was not rate-assessed in 2019 it is still eligible to apply. The local authority can pay the grant based on an estimate of what the rates demand for 2019 would have been.

This direct grant support is part of the wider €12bn package of supports for firms of all sizes, which includes the wage subsidy scheme, grants, low-cost loans, write-off of commercial rates and deferred tax liabilities, all of which will help to improve cashflow amongst SMEs.

We will monitor the Restart Grant as it is rolled out and continue to take on board issues as they arise. Legislation is not required to alter the terms to this Scheme if deemed necessary in the future.

Applications for the Restart Grant can be made online directly to local authorities since Friday, May 22^nd, 2020 and further information can be obtained by contacting the Business Support Unit of the relevant local authority.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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458. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the schemes in her Department in place to assist Covid-19-impacted businesses; the number of loans drawn down since 1 March 2020 in each instance; the aggregate amount drawn down under each scheme since 1 March 2020; the number of businesses that have availed of each scheme since 1 March 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8009/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Since the Covid-19 crisis began, Government has worked to put in place a suite of supports to ensure appropriate financing is available to businesses that have been impacted by the outbreak or by the restrictions that have been put in place to mitigate the spread of the disease. There are currently a number of loan guarantee schemes in place which support the working capital needs of impacted businesses.

Microfinance Ireland (MFI) was introduced as a support to microenterprises to help them address funding needs and provides loans to microenterprises that do not meet the conventional risk criteria of banks. These loans are available to eligible microenterprises responding to Covid-19-related difficulties, the negative impact of which must be a minimum of 15% of actual or projected income or profit.

MFI provides vital support to microenterprises by filling the lending gap in the market by lending to businesses that cannot obtain loans from other commercial lenders. Where typical MFI loans are available at an interest rate of 6.8-7.8%, Covid-19 loans are available at an interest rate of 4.5% where the application is made through the network of Local Enterprise Offices around the country, or where referred by a bank or Local Development Committees. Where an application is made directly to MFI, the interest rate is 5.5%. These loans also include an option for a moratorium on interest and repayments for the first six months.

The SBCI Covid-19 Working Capital Scheme opened for eligibility applications on 23 March. The scheme is offered by my Department in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The scheme is operated by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI). It currently makes available a fund of up to €200m to eligible businesses that are exposed to impacts arising from the outbreak of Covid-19, to enable those businesses to innovate, change or adapt in response to the current business environment.

Loans under this scheme are easier to access and offered at favourable terms when compared with other similar loans in the market, for example the maximum interest rate under the scheme is 4% and loans of up to €500,000 are available unsecured. Applicants may also be able to avail of a three-month interest-only payment period (depending on your lender’s assessment of your application).

Following my announcement on 8 April, this scheme is now being expanded to make available an additional €250m in lending, which will bring the total amount of lending available under this scheme to €450m.

Table of uptake:

As part of the 8 April announcement, I also announced a further €200m expansion of the Future Growth Loan Scheme. This scheme initially made available a fund of €300m to support loans to eligible businesses for strategic investment. The current scheme provides loans from €100,000 (€50,000 for farmers) to €3m per eligible business, for terms of 8-10 years. My Department is working through the details of this expansion and will bring this funding to market as soon as possible.

The Government on 2^ndMay also announced a new €2 billion COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme as a further development of the existing Credit Guarantee Scheme already available from AIB, BOI and Ulster Bank.

This Scheme forms a major component of the government’s strategy to aid SMEs in these difficult times by providing critical support to ensure businesses are facilitated in having access to credit facilities to assist a return to a more regular trading environment. It will provide an 80% guarantee on lending to SMEs until the end of this year, for terms between 3 months and 6 years. The guarantee can be used for a wide range of lending products between €10,000 and €1 million that have a maximum term of 6 years or less. The implementation of this Scheme will require primary legislation, the drafting of which has been approved by Government, and my officials are already working with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on this drafting work.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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459. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the financial supports that will be provided to the retail sector, particularly smaller scale businesses, to resume trading in view of current economic difficulties and the growth in online international business and its impact on smaller retail businesses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8012/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As Chair of the Retail Consultation Forum, I am acutely aware that Covid-19 has brought particular challenges for retailers - large and small, across the country.

In order to assist businesses to address the challenges posed by COVID-19, the Government has put in place a comprehensive suite of supports for firms of all sizes, which includes the wage subsidy scheme, grants, low-cost loans, write-off of commercial rates and deferred tax liabilities. These supports are designed to build confidence, to further assist businesses in terms of the management of their companies and to allow them to begin looking to the future and start charting a path forward for weeks and months ahead.For a full list of supports for business please see .

The growth in demand for shopping online domestically and globally is driving the retail sector more broadly to develop its online capability in order to enhance its competitiveness. Trading online is a very important route for retail businesses to grow and improve their business in the current crisis and will be an important element in their recovery over the longer term. In April of this year I increased support for two online trading initiatives to a total of €7.6m: Trading Online Vouchers for micro enterprises in partnership with the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, Richard Bruton TD; and a special Covid-19 Online Retail Scheme for indigenous retailers with 10 or more employees administered by Enterprise Ireland.

Firstly, in conjunction with Minister Bruton's Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, I have increased support for the Trading Online Voucher Scheme which is available to all micro enterprises with less than 10 employees, including those in the retail sector through the Local Enterprise Office network nationwide. The €2,500 Trading Online Vouchers are a key government grant to help small and micro enterprises, with very limited or no e-commerce presence, to get online, boost their sales and reach new markets – particularly during this difficult period, when so many small businesses are closed to the public. However, the value of the Trading Online Voucher will stand to businesses for years to come, boosting revenue, and helping sustain and create jobs into the future.

The Voucher can be used towards adding payment facilities or booking systems to websites or developing new apps for customers, with co-funding from the business currently set at just 10 percent. The Voucher can also be used towards subscriptions to low-cost online retail platform solutions to help companies quickly establish a retailing presence online. Training and further business supports are also provided along with the Scheme. Flexibilities to the Trading Online Voucher scheme are now in place allowing businesses apply for a second voucher where they have successfully utilised their first one, which brings the overall total voucher amount available up to €5,000 for each eligible business. Further details about the expanding Trading Online Voucher Scheme are available at

The Covid-19 Online Retail Scheme is complementary to the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) Trading Online Voucher Scheme. The objective of the Scheme, administered by Enterprise Ireland, is to support companies in the indigenous retail sector which have started an online journey, which will have the most immediate impact enabling them to respond to both domestic and international consumer demand with a competitive online offer.

My Department has introduced this Scheme in response to the COVID-19 crisis and the urgent need for retail companies to achieve a step change in online capability. Applicant companies must employ 10 or more people, have an existing online presence (e.g. website or social media), and have a retail outlet through which they derive the majority of their revenue. Successful applicants will be awarded funding to support a maximum of 80% of the project costs. Grants ranging from €10,000 to €40,000 will be awarded under the competitive scheme.

This Scheme is not about taking the first steps; it is about raising the bar, in an informed, planned and strategic way. The total fund size will be up to €2 million under this call. Further details on this Scheme available at .

On 8^thMay the Government agreed details of a further support which will give direct grant aid to micro and small businesses to help them with the costs associated with reopening and re-employing workers following COVID-19 closures. The Restart Grant will be available to businesses with a turnover of less than €5m and employing 50 people or less, which were closed or impacted by at least a 25% reduction in turnover out to 30^thJune 2020. It is a contribution towards the cost of re-opening or keeping a business operational and re-connecting with employees and customers. The grants will be equivalent to the rates bill of the business in 2019, with a minimum payment of €2,000 and a maximum payment of €10,000.

If a company is currently in a rateable premise but was not rate-assessed in 2019 it is still eligible to apply. The local authority can pay the grant based on an estimate of what the rates demand for 2019 would have been. Applications for the Restart Grant can be made online directly to local authorities and further information is available on the application form. If there are queries that are not on the application form, businesses can contact the Business Support Unit in each local authority.

All information including the application form will be available on the local authority website, the details of which are at the following link: .

I am committed to supporting the needs of the retail sector at this time and in developing their online capability and enhancing their competitiveness.

Finally, it is important that all businesses check for the latest information, public health advice and guidelines from Government in relation to Covid-19.