Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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41. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will give consideration to reviewing wage subsidies for casual staff in view of the fact that longer operating hours are now required and that wage subsidies should be proportionate to new working hours as opposed to looking at pre-Covid-19 payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10589/20]

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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53. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will extend the temporary wage subsidy scheme for the hospitality sector for as long as it is operating at reduced capacity due to social distancing guidelines, restrictions on overseas visitors and self-isolating procedures. [11529/20]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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58. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will amend the temporary wage subsidy scheme to facilitate the needs of businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector to increase the number of hours an employee can work to a level in excess of the average level of hours worked by an employee during the scheme qualification reference period and allow the company to continue to qualify for a payment under the scheme for the employee (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10559/20]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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80. To ask the Minister for Finance if the Revenue Commissioners will be directed to amend the temporary wage subsidy scheme to allow for employers in the tourism industry to take on staff full-time under the scheme who may have worked reduced hours in January and February 2020 due to the off season; if he has considered the effect that this anomaly will have on the tourism industry taking on staff when their hours worked in January and February would have been significantly lower than the current demand; if measures will be taken to address this anomaly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11014/20]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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85. To ask the Minister for Finance the future of the temporary wage subsidy scheme in the event workers still require financial support in cases in which their employment is not fully operational until mass gatherings are permitted; and the plans in place for the event industry. [11117/20]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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92. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will amend the temporary wage subsidy scheme to include newly-established businesses with new members yet to be enrolled on the payroll; if he will include seasonal businesses that closed earlier in the year due to renovations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11203/20]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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99. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to extend the temporary wage subsidy scheme to seasonal tourism businesses particularly in rural and coastal areas that close for the winter season each year and normally operate from 17 March or Easter each year until either the end of October or Christmas and are not eligible for the scheme under its present rules in order to ensure regional equity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11241/20]

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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112. To ask the Minister for Finance the steps that will be taken to remedy the anomaly which prevents small businesses and companies which employ seasonal employees from availing of the temporary wage subsidy scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11424/20]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 41, 53, 58, 80, 85, 92, 99 and 112 together.

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) 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 urgent Government objective of getting assistance to employers and employees, where businesses have been seriously affected by the pandemic and the necessary restrictions introduced to fight the spread of the Covid-19 virus. It must be accepted that the TWSS cannot be adapted to meet the particular circumstances of individual employers or employees.

In the context of the compelling 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, but extended recently to 1 April 2020.

The latter two conditions were particularly designed with a view to preventing abuse of the scheme. The wage subsidy per employee is calculated based on the net pay reported for January and February 2020. The scheme does not distinguish between ordinary wages, shift allowances, overtime, bonuses or commission or between part-time or full-time employees. Moreover, the scheme has no role in relation to the employer/employee relationship in so far as terms, conditions and entitlements of the employment are concerned.

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. Thus, where an individual commenced a new employment after that date, or returned to the payroll of his or her employer after that date following a period of unpaid leave, he or she does not meet the eligibility criteria with the employer as he or she would not have been on the employer’s payroll at that date.

The Deputies will be aware that the Government decided on 5 June 2020 to extend the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) until the end of August. The intention is to continue to monitor the scheme closely in the coming period. I expect that decisions will be taken at an appropriate time on next steps for the TWSS beyond end-August. In this regard, I acknowledge that certain sectors will face particular challenges into the future as we re-open our economy, and this is one of many factors that will inform such future decisions.

However, there are no plans at the present moment to revisit the core criteria. The TWSS is built upon historic PAYE returns made to Revenue – this is fundamental to the operational of the scheme which has given support to over 530,000 employees.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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71. To ask the Minister for Finance if on their return to work, employees in the construction sector can expect to operate on the basis of a normal wage inclusive or exclusive of a pandemic unemployment payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10800/20]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 42 and 71 together.

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) was introduced on 26 March to support firm viability and preserve the relationship between the employer and employee insofar as is possible by subsidising a portion of the employer wage bill in circumstances where the employer’s business has been negatively impacted by the restrictions that have had to be introduced to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

When originally announced, it was expected that this economy wide measure would be in place for 12 weeks until mid-June. Having regard to the novel circumstances surrounding the re-opening of the economy as well as the need to avoid the risk of forcing otherwise viable firms to close, the Government has decided that the TWSS will remain until the end of August.

The key prescribed conditions of the scheme are that –

- the business is suffering significant negative  economic impact due to the pandemic and is unable to pay normal wages to employees, but wishes to continue to employ the employees and is making best efforts to continue to pay some wages to the employees,

- 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, but recently extended to before the 1 April 2020.

In terms of Deputy Andrews' question, employee eligibility for the scheme does not depend on that person being absent from the workplace. Eligible employees who return to the workplace will continue to be eligible for the TWSS provided that the core criteria for qualification for the scheme continue to be met.

Similarly, former employees who were on the employer's payroll on 29 February and who subsequently availed of the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) may return to that employment and be eligible for the TWSS. A person ceases to be eligible for the PUP from the date they return to employment.

I might add that the position in relation to the TWSS does not affect any legal obligations that the employer may have to their employee as regards any terms, conditions or entitlements of their employment, including pay. The question of an individual’s employment entitlements following their resumption of work and the question of what wages an employer may or may not be in a position to pay such an employee are matters between the employee and the employer. However, the employer is expected to make best efforts to maintain the employee’s net income as close as possible to normal net income for the duration of the Subsidy period.

Finally, there is no minimum amount that the employer must pay as an additional payment in order to be eligible for the scheme, but for Revenue operational systems reasons the employer will need to enter at least €0.01 in Gross Pay when running its payroll.