Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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305. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the schemes available to provide additional financial help to those musicians working in bands, especially wedding bands, that have seen up to 90% loss in the Covid-19 crisis and are worried regarding keeping their homes in the absence of continued mortgage forbearance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42572/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Government has agreed that the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) will continue in payment until end March 2021.  This extension provides certainty to people, including those in the arts and entertainment sectors, that access to PUP remains available.

PUP is payable to the self-employed where there has been a significant reduction or collapse in trading income as a direct consequence of the pandemic.  Essentially the position was that PUP, as originally introduced, enabled self-employed people to take-up occasional self-employment work; for example a self-employed musician could take up a radio gig.

I announced yesterday that self-employed people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) who are looking to restart their business can now earn up to €960 over an eight week period, while retaining their full PUP entitlement. 

I had earlier, as part of Budget 2021, provided that such people could  earn up to €480 over a four-week period.  The increased flexibility I am now providing for, with immediate effect, comes following engagement with the Arts sector, including the Music  and Entertainment Association of Ireland (MEAI), as well as other self-employment sectors. 

The €960 limit is based on gross income, before tax and PRSI, minus expenses.  A self-employed person does not need to seek approval from the Department and they do not need to report these earnings to the Department on a regular basis.  They do need to keep a record of all income for the period. 

I should mention here that my colleague, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Culture, is working on the €50 million allocated for the arts sector in 2021 which will include measures for the commercial entertainment sector, building on schemes such as the Music Industry Stimulus Package and the pilot Live Performance Support Scheme.

Where a self-employed person exceeds this threshold and works up to 24 hours per week they may be eligible for support under the Part Time Job Incentive scheme which, as part of Budget 2021, has been extended to the self-employed who transition from the PUP.  The weekly rate of payment for a person transferring from PUP is €128.60 or €209.70 with a qualified adult.  No income threshold applies.

They may also apply for jobseekers payment instead where they are engaged in regular employment. The maximum personal rate for jobseekers is €203 which also provides increased allowances for adult and child dependents.

A self-employed individual who transitions from PUP may be eligible for support under the Department’s Enterprise Support Grant that provides support of up to €1,000 with business re-start costs.  To date, this support has assisted over 7,400 businesses transitioning from the pandemic unemployment payment at a cost of approximately €6.9 million. 

Funding of €12 million had been made available for this grant in 2020.  As part of the Budget 2021 measures, an additional €12 million has been allocated to the grant so that it will be available to business owners who may not be in a position to re-start their business and transition from the Pandemic Unemployment Payment until 2021.

Responsibility for housing related issues rests with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

The most appropriate way in which customers experiencing mortgage difficulties can be supported remains through on-going engagement with their lender to explore a sustainable and appropriate response from their lending institution.

Under the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears (CCMA) 2013, measures and policies are in place to support customers in financial difficulty with their mortgage commitments.  The CCMA issued by the Central Bank under Section 117 of the Central Bank Act 1989 and ensures that the responsibility of forbearance remains with the mortgage service provider.

The CCMA provides support for those that are in arrears, pre-arrears or those who fall under scope of the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (MARP).  Under the CCMA, lending institutions are encouraging customers to contact them at the earliest opportunity regarding their concerns and any particular circumstances which may impact on the customer’s financial well-being.

A cross-industry co-ordination Group, chaired by Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), is looking at all coronavirus related issues that may impact customers.  This includes both the overall economic impact of the coronavirus situation and its direct effect on customers.  A number of emergency measures have also been announced by individual lending bodies including increased overdraft facilities and increased credit card and cash withdrawal limits.

For those mortgage holders coming to an end of a COVID-19 payment break, lenders will need to assess the position with the borrower to see if they are in a position to resume loan repayments.  For those borrowers who will still be impacted by COVID-19 or who will otherwise need further support and assistance, lenders will need to consider the situation on a ‘case-by-case’ basis and to provide further support having regard to the circumstances of the particular case.

Support is also available from Abhaile, the national mortgage arrears resolution service.  It is provided free of charge to borrowers who are at risk of losing their home due to mortgage arrears.  Abhaile is focussed on providing expert financial and legal advice and assistance to borrowers to identify and put in place solutions to their arrears, and wherever possible, enable the borrowers remain in their home.

I trust that this clarifies the position.