Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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61. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when he expects future details in relation to the extended eligibility of the small business assistance scheme for Covid to be announced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28230/21]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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It was recently announced that the eligibility criteria for the Small Business Assistance Scheme for COVID (SBASC) would be extended to include businesses operating from a non-rateable premises such as a home office or hot-desk.

The details of the scheme are currently being finalised by my Department and I expect that full details of the scheme will be announced in the next week and Local Authorities will begin taking applications in early June. The scheme will have a closing date of 21st July 2021.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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62. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when he expects the micro-enterprise assistance scheme to be relaunched through the local enterprise offices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28231/21]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The Government at its meeting on 18 May agreed to extend eligibility for the Small Business Assistance Scheme for COVID (SBASC) to those businesses operating from a non-rateable premises with fixed costs, if such businesses meet all other eligibility criteria for SBASC. This will allow such businesses to apply for a payment of €4,000 when the Scheme reopens for Q2 2021.

The Government also agreed to provide a grant of up to €1,000 for microenterprises with previous turnover of less than €50,000, that meet the other criteria for SBASC.

The details of the revised schemes are currently being finalised and I hope to launch the scheme in the coming weeks. Business owners who are interested in availing of the scheme should check their local authority website for updates and full details will be available from the Local Enterprise Offices.