Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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194. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason a restart grant was declined for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19951/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The eligibility criteria set out by my Department determined how Restart Grant Plus applications were processed by the Local Authorities on its behalf during the operation of the scheme.

In this context it is important to note that for the purposes of the Restart Grant and Restart Grant Plus Schemes, each Local Authority was the decision maker in relation to initial applications and appeals. The Department had no role in relation to individual applications and appeals.

Where clarification of the eligibility criteria had been necessary, the Local Authorities engaged proactively with my Department to determine how best to proceed.

I'm informed my Department is satisfied that the Local Authority correctly applied the eligibility criteria of the scheme in this instance and this has been communicated to the applicant in question on several occasions previously.