Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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211. To ask the Minister for Finance if companies that have availed of the temporary wage subsidy scheme and or the employment wage subsidy scheme are precluded from paying dividends to shareholders in 2020. [31067/20]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS), which was provided for in section 28 of the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (COVID-19) Act 2020, expired on 31 August 2020. The TWSS has now been replaced by the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), which was legislated for under the recently enacted Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (No. 2) Act 2020.

The specific nature and terms of the EWSS arrangement are separate and distinct from the TWSS. The key eligibility criteria for the TWSS were that the business was 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 to 1 April 2020.

As regards eligibility for the EWSS, an employer must be able to demonstrate that his or her business will experience a 30% reduction in turnover or orders between 1 July and 31 December 2020, by reference to the corresponding period in 2019, as a result of business disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the employer must have a tax clearance certificate to be eligible to join the EWSS and must continue to meet the requirements for tax clearance throughout the scheme. Where an eligible employer makes a payment of wages, within prescribed limits, to a qualifying employee during the scheme, the employer can claim a EWSS subsidy in respect of that employee.

I have been advised by Revenue that the question of what dividends, a company may or may not be in a position to pay to shareholders in 2020, in the light of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the employer’s business, are matters that are outside the remit of the TWSS and EWSS.