Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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164. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the terms under which self-employed persons can claim a payment to assist with restarting their business which has been affected by Covid-19. [29162/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As announced in the July Stimulus package, the enterprise support grant was extended to assist eligible self-employed, including sole traders, 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 grant, of up to €1,000, is payable to self-employed individuals who employ fewer than 10 people, have an annual turnover of less than €1 million and are not eligible for support from the COVID 19 Business Restart Grant or other similar business reopening grants. Funding of €12 million has been provided for this grant. To date, over 3,100 small businesses have benefitted from this grant.

A self-employed person who closes their Pandemic Unemployment Payment should be encouraged to send their grant application to their local Intreo Centre to be processed. Further information is available at www.gov.ie.

There are a range of supports available for businesses from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, to persons who may not qualify for the enterprise support grant.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.