Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

68. To ask the Minister for Finance if a person (details supplied) is eligible to avail of the wage subsidy scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7669/20]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) was introduced by the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020. This scheme provides the payment of income supports to employers in respect of eligible employees where the employer’s business activities have experienced significant negative disruption due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The TWSS is operated by employers through their payroll system, thereby ensuring employees will be in receipt of the subsidy payment along with any other payments made by their employer. The employer must include the subsidy as part of employees’ wages and show the amount of the subsidy paid to the employee on the employee’s payslip.

The key eligibility criteria for the scheme are that –

- the business is suffering significant negative economic impact due to the pandemic,

- the employees were on the payroll at 29 February 2020and were included on a payroll submission in February 2020, and

- the employer had fulfilled its PAYE reporting obligations for February 2020 by 1 April 2020.

I am advised by Revenue that in relation to the person in respect of whom details are supplied, it is a matter for that person’s employer to apply for the TWSS for this person through the submission of the employer’s payroll to Revenue. In applying for the TWSS for this and other employees it is important that the PRSI Class J9 be used on the payroll submission for all employees for whom the TWSS is being sought.

An employer is required to issue a pay slip to each employee for each pay period. The employer is required to separately disclose the amount of the subsidy payment and any additional payment paid by the employer to the employee on the face of the pay slip document. The employee can verify each payment made by the employer by reference to the pay slip document issued by the employer.

I am advised that Revenue has attempted to contact the person whose details were supplied by the Deputy and will continue to do so. The person can, if they wish, provide Revenue with a copy of their payslips for past pay periods and other relevant details to assist with the review procedures being undertaken by Revenue in this case.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

71. To ask the Minister for Finance the status of arrears owed to employers under the TWSS relating to employees that were rehired since 1 May 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7725/20]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

76. To ask the Minister for Finance if an employer that laid off a worker onto the pandemic unemployment payment can rehire that employee under the temporary wage subsidy scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7891/20]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 71 and 76 together.

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) was is provided for in section 28 of the recently enacted Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020.

The TWSS is an emergency measure to deal with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy. Of necessity, the underlying legislation and the scheme itself were developed quickly, having regard to the Government objective of providing assistance to employers and employees, where businesses have been seriously affected by the pandemic and the necessary restrictions introduced as a result of this Public Health emergency.

It must be accepted that the TWSS cannot be adapted to meet the particular circumstances of individual employers or employees. The objective of the scheme is to ensure the key relationship between employers and employees is maintained to the greatest extent possible so that businesses can restart operations once the crisis has passed.

In the context of the need for immediate implementation of the TWSS, the scheme necessarily had to build on data returned to Revenue through its real-time PAYE system. The key conditions of the scheme, as prescribed in the underlying law, are that –

- the business is suffering significant negative economic impact due to the pandemic,

- the employees were on the payroll at 29 February 2020, and

- the employer had fulfilled its PAYE reporting obligations for February 2020 before, in general, 15 March 2020, although this deadline was extended recently to 1 April 2020.

The latter two conditions were particularly designed with a view to preventing abuse of the scheme.

Accordingly, it follows that the TWSS can only operate in respect of an employee, whether full-time or part-time, who was on the payroll of the employer as at 29 February 2020. Eligible employers can participate in the scheme in respect of any eligible employees on their payroll, including rehired staff who were temporarily laid off. Where an eligible employee previously laid off has been re-hired, the employee will qualify for the scheme once their claim for social welfare benefit (Pandemic Unemployment Benefit /Jobseekers Benefit) is ceased.

While the TWSS is payable to eligible staff that were rehired after 1 May 2020, I have been advised by Revenue that further IT development work was required to facilitate the processing of such cases. Revenue has completed this system development and the required technology is now in place. Revenue has confirmed that in excess of 30,000 employees have started or restarted employments since 1 May 2020, of which approximately 10,000 are ‘rehired’ staff that are eligible for the TWSS. Employers who submitted payroll after 1 May for those ‘rehired’ staff were processed for refund and the refund will be in employers’ bank accounts early this week. The system will pick-up and process additional re-hires on a daily basis that appear on payroll submissions.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

72. To ask the Minister for Finance if a decision on a wage subsidy application by a club (details supplied) in County Cork will be re-examined; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7776/20]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Section 28 of the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 sets out the qualifying conditions required for access to the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS). The legislative requirements are that;

- the business is suffering significant negative economic impact due to the pandemic,

- the employees were on the payroll at 29 February 2020, and

- the employer had fulfilled its PAYE reporting obligations for February 2020 by 15 March 2020.

The 15 March deadline in respect of the February 2020 payroll submission was recently extended to ‘before’ 1 April by Revenue in circumstances where all previous payroll submissions were filed before 15 March 2020.

The TWSS builds on data returned to Revenue through the PAYE system and as such is a fully automated solution that is designed around the legislative provisions. The scheme calculates the level of subsidy due based on the employee’s ‘Average Revenue Net Weekly PAY’ (ARNWP) during January and February 2020. The system cannot calculate a subsidy payment for employees that were not on the employer’s payroll at 29 February.

I have been advised by Revenue that the person in question did not begin his current employment until 9 March 2020, which is outside of the specified dates provided in the legislation for the TWSS. For this reason, it was not possible for Revenue to provide his employer with access to the scheme on his behalf.