Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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53. To ask the Minister for Finance the way new companies can determine their eligibility of wage subsidy scheme if they were not in operation one year ago; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1961/21]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) is an economy-wide scheme that focuses primarily on business eligibility, delivering a per-head subsidy on a flat rate basis to the employer.

The EWSS “turnover  test” has been specifically designed so as to target the subsidy at otherwise viable employers whose businesses continue to be adversely impacted by COVID-19 by requiring a comparison of the firm’s pre-pandemic operations with their current operations.The legislation provides that the employer must be able to demonstrate that they are operating at no more than 70% in either the turnover of the employer’s business or the customer orders received by the employer in Q1 and Q2 2021 compared with the same period in 2019.

Flexibility has been built into the turnover test for  businesses who were not in operation a year ago.  As set out in the legislation, the reduction in turnover or customer orders between 1 January and 30 June 2021, may be shown compared to the:

- same period in 2019, where the business operated for the whole of the comparable period in 2019;

- period from the date of commencement to 30 June 2019, where the business commenced trading between 1 January and 1 May 2019; or

- projected turnover or customer orders from 1 January 2021, or date of commencement, to 30 June 2021, where business commenced after 1 May 2019. (This is compared to what the projections may have been if COVID-19 had not occurred.)

The EWSS is operated by Revenue and detailed guidance on the operation of the scheme is published on their website.