Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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156. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the status of the development of the Covid business assistance scheme; if the scheme will include backdated payments which take into account the loss of income and the costs incurred over the past 12 months, since the start of Covid-19 restrictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14655/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I am acutely aware of the difficulties that these necessary ongoing Covid-19 restrictions are putting on all businesses right across the country.  Business owners are making sacrifices in order to protect their communities.

With that in mind, I recently announced the new Small Business Assistance Scheme for COVID.  This scheme is now open for applications through Local Authorities and will provide a €4,000 grant for businesses for the first quarter of this year.  Closing date for Local Authorities to receive applications is 21^stApril, 2021.In light of the extensive business supports which the government made available to businesses over the course of 2020, such as the Restart Grant schemes and others, there is no intention to backdate the scheme to any quarter of 2020.  

The Scheme is open to companies, self-employed, sole traders or partnerships, with a minimum turnover of €50,000 and are not owned and operated by a public body. The Scheme is open to firms that currently employ less than 250 and with current turnover of less than €25m.

Businesses down 75% or more in turnover among those expected to benefit the scheme.  The scheme is available to businesses not eligible for CRSS, the Fáilte Ireland Business Continuity Scheme, or the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media’s Live Performance Support.

The business must operate from a building, or similar fixed physical structure on which business rates are payable (mobile premises, or premises which are not permanently fixed in place, do not meet the definition of business premises nor do premises on which no rates are payable).

The turnover of the business over the claim period is estimated to be no more than 25% of the average weekly turnover of the business in 2019; or the projected average weekly turnover of the business for 1 January to 31 March 2021, for businesses that commenced after 1 November 2020.

Full details of the wide range of COVID-19 schemes are available on my Department’s website at .