Written answers

Thursday, 26 November 2020

Department of Finance

Covid-19 Pandemic Supports

Photo of Joe FlahertyJoe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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76. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of businesses in counties Longford and Westmeath that have qualified for support under the Covid restrictions support scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39185/20]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) announced in the Budget on 13 October 2020 is a targeted support for businesses significantly impacted by restrictions introduced by the Government under public health regulations to combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. CRSS will supplement the existing supports available under the COVID Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) and the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS).

The CRSS is aimed at businesses which, because of specific terms of the restrictions introduced by Government, are required to prohibit or significantly restrict customers from accessing their business premises, with the result that the business must temporarily close or operate from their premises at a significantly reduced level. The details of the scheme are set out in Finance Bill 2020 and guidelines on the operation of the scheme, including the eligibility criteria, are available on the Revenue website.

As I mentioned earlier in response to a question from Deputy Cowen, the registration system for CRSS was released by Revenue on 1 November 2020. Up to 26 November 2020, 10,200 businesses have registered for CRSS in respect of 11,100 business premises. A further 3,700 applications are currently being processed by Revenue.

In relation to the number of business premises registered for the specific Counties mentioned by the Deputy, the numbers (rounded to the nearest 100) as at 23 November are as follows;

Longford – 100

Westmeath – 200

Eligible businesses registered for CRSS, which carry on a business activity from a business premises located in a region that is subject to COVID-19 related restrictions, can now make a claim for payment under the CRSS via the eRepayments system through Revenue’s Online System (ROS), where they satisfy the qualification criteria for the scheme.

CRSS applies as regards restrictions in place from 13 October 2020 and eligible businesses that have been subject to restrictions since that date may make a claim covering the period from 13 October 2020 up to the expected end day of the current restrictions, which is 1 December 2020. One payment will be made to eligible businesses covering this restrictions period, with payments made by Revenue within 3 days of the submission of a qualifying claim. Up to 26 November 2020, Revenue has processed €51.6 million CRSS payments relating to 8,200 premises with €50.0 million of this processed for payment already.

I am informed by Revenue that information on payments made on a County by County basis will be published on the Revenue website shortly, once the relevant data is available and validated by Revenue.

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