Government outlines further measures to support businesses impacted by COVID-19

  • 5 May 2020, 15:33

The government has agreed, at a special Cabinet meeting, a suite of measures to further support small, medium and larger business that are negatively impacted by COVID-19.

It follows the publication on Friday evening of the government’s Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business, which sets out a five stage plan to ease the COVID-19 restrictions and reopen Ireland’s economy and society. The COVID-19 emergency has had an unprecedented impact on our economy, as well as our society. As we begin the phased reopening of our economy, the government recognises that businesses require significant additional supports. The latest package of measures aims to help our businesses to restart, reconnect and rehire staff who have been laid off or furloughed.

The government has already brought forward a series of measures to support those impacted by this global pandemic. They have included emergency income support such as the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and the Pandemic Unemployment Payment. It is now necessary to introduce a number of additional measures to aid the economy as the COVID-19 restrictions start to be lifted.

Those measures are:

  • a €10,000 restart grant for micro and small businesses based on a rates/waiver rebate from 2019
  • a three month commercial rates waiver for impacted businesses
  • a €2 billion Pandemic Stabilisation and Recovery Fund within the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), which will make capital available to medium and large enterprises
  • a €2 billion COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme to support lending to SMEs for terms ranging from 3 months to 6 years, which will be below market interest rates
  • the ‘warehousing’ of tax liabilities for a period of twelve months after recommencement of trading during which time there will be no debt enforcement action taken by Revenue
  • a commitment to local authorities to make up the rates shortfall, so that local authorities can continue provide full services to the public

Further details are available HERE 

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