merrion street

The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, TD, has today (Tuesday) welcomed the statement by Revenue confirming that the monthly date for payments to employers under the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) has been brought forward.

Noting that the updated system will ensure payments are made as soon as possible, Minister Donohoe acknowledged the role of payroll providers who have continued to work together with Revenue to deliver the EWSS ahead of schedule.

The Minister also welcomed the confirmation of the uptake of the measure, which is broadly in-line with the expectations set out in the July Stimulus Plan, with 31,700 employers expected to receive subsidy payments for September in respect of 335,000 employees, with a total subsidy to be paid this week of just under €250 million.

Commenting on the strong uptake of the EWSS to date the Minister noted: ‘The objective of the EWSS is to support viable firms and encourage employment and to that end it is an important bridge between Social Welfare payments like the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) and regular employment which is the ultimate goal.  As a result, the effectiveness of government supports are linked not only to the level of uptake of EWSS by employers but also to the numbers of people who rely on the PUP, which I would note has remained steady over the month of September as the EWSS has come into operation’.

“The success of the EWSS also lies in the responsiveness of the measure to deliver additional support to employers who may need it in light of updates to public health measures.  To that end, I would emphasise that the EWSS will be in place in the coming weeks and months for all employers and that the scheme remains open for applications into 2021, should the time come when it is required.”

Further details on how the payments will be operated going forward may be found at:

https://www.revenue.ie/en/Home.aspx