Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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87. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will consider instituting additional supports for large heritage attractions which have suffered substantial decreases in revenue and footfall as a result of Covid-19 and have large maintenance costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22001/20]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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88. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on whether businesses that were denied funding as part of the restart grant due to the fact it was oversubscribed prior to the deadline date should be able to avail of the original €2,000 in view of the fact that there has been additional funding made available in the form of the restart plus grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22040/20]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Restart grant scheme was launched on 22nd May and was live on all local authority websites from 29 May. It was advertised extensively both nationally and locally as well as across social media. By mid-June, almost 30,000 applications were received nationally. By the end of July, some 45,000 applications had been received.

The Scheme was initially intended to provide grants in tandem with the phased re-opening of the economy as per the Government’s Roadmap. As the Roadmap was accelerated, so too was the scheme made available to all eligible businesses and sectors.

The numbers of applications nationally had begun to taper off in recent weeks at the same time as the Government was considering introducing an expanded Restart Plus Scheme with higher grant levels and expanded criteria.

As the Government wished to introduce the higher grant levels, as quickly as possible, to the benefit of a much larger group of businesses, it was decided to end the original scheme to avoid overlap and administrative confusion.

However, business owners may now make their case in writing to their Local Authority if they feel that they are entitled to the original Restart Grant Scheme. The Local Authority will review each case, in conjunction with my Department.