Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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157. To ask the Minister for Trade, Enterprise and Employment the supports in place for sole traders who are the only employees of their limited companies and have closed their business due to Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39409/20]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I am keenly aware that businesses are making a massive sacrifice to protect their communities and I am committed to ensuring that the Government will offer as much assistance and support as possible. My Department and its agencies have been focused on coming up with solutions to help businesses overcome the difficulties caused by COVID-19. Details of the wide range of supports available are on my Department’s website at

Budget 2021 provides a significant package of tax and expenditure measures to build the resilience of the economy and to help vulnerable but viable businesses across all sectors. The measures in the Budget include the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme, cash for businesses, low cost loans, commercial rates waivers and deferred tax liabilities.

We have also announced a six-month reduction in the VAT, going down from 23% to 21%, a reduction in the 13.5% VAT rate to 9% which will benefit the hospitality sector.

The New Covid Restrictions Support Scheme, operated by Revenue offers a targeted, timely and temporary sector-specific support to businesses forced to close or trade at significantly reduced levels due to COVID.

As announced in the July Stimulus, the Enterprise Support Grant was extended to assist eligible self-employed, including sole traders, who exit the PUP or jobseekers schemes to re-start their business. A self-employed person who closes their PUP should send their grant application to their local Intreo Centre to be processed. Further information is available at www.gov.ie .

We are providing more and cheaper loan finance through MicroFinance Ireland, SBCI and the new €2bn Credit Guarantee Scheme. I announced the reopening of MFI lending on 31st August and I launched the €2bn Credit Guarantee Scheme on 7th September.

We have also announced a six-month reduction in the VAT, going down from 23% to 21%, a reduction in the 13.5% VAT rate to 9% which will benefit the hospitality sector, together with a range of additional public capital investment measures to support the domestic economy.

These measures are supplementary to the wide range of existing loan and voucher schemes available to assist businesses affected by COVID-19 provided through the July Jobs Stimulus and other Government initiatives.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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158. To ask the Minister for Trade, Enterprise and Employment if he is considering reopening the restart grants to new applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39411/20]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Restart Grant was introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions to provide a contribution towards the cost of re-opening or keeping a business operational and re-connecting with employees and customers. It closed for applications on 31 October 2020.

Budget 2021 provides a significant package of tax and expenditure measures to build the resilience of the economy and to help vulnerable but viable businesses across all sectors. The measures in the Budget are in addition to those announced in the July Stimulus, including the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), cash for businesses, low cost loans, commercial rates waivers and deferred tax liabilities.

The new COVID Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) introduced as part of Budget 2021 has effectively replaced the Restart Grant. The CRSS is operational through Revenue and offers a targeted, timely and temporary sector-specific support to businesses forced to close or trade at significantly reduced levels due to COVID of up to €5,000 per week.

Other measures include a six-month reduction in the VAT rate, going down from 23% to 21%, a reduction in the 13.5% VAT rate to 9% which will benefit the hospitality sector, and a range of additional public capital investment measures to support the domestic economy.

As a result of the fact that businesses have to close, Government made changes to the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) and the EWSS, including an increase in the top rate to €350 for those who were earning in excess of €400 per week, and increasing the top payment to €350 for those earning over €400 in the case of the EWSS.

Cheaper loan finance is now available through MicroFinance Ireland, SBCI and the new €2bn Credit Guarantee Scheme.

These measures are supplementary to the wide range of existing loan and voucher schemes available to assist businesses affected by COVID-19 provided through the July Jobs Stimulus and other Government initiatives.