Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

542. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if there are plans to extend the qualifying criteria for the enterprise support grant to include persons in receipt of a State pension who are also working, in view of the fact that such persons were refused the pandemic unemployment payment because of their age. [28750/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As announced in the July Stimulus package, the enterprise support grant was extended to assist eligible self-employed individuals who exit the Pandemic Unemployment Payment or jobseekers schemes after 18th May 2020 to re-start their business which was closed due to the impact of the pandemic. The Pandemic Unemployment Payment is payable to people of working age up to age 66 years and there are no plans to change this.

Supports are available to businesses from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, including a new Micro-Enterprise Assistance Fund which will help businesses with fewer than 10 employees, which are ineligible for existing grants.

I trust that this clarifies the position.