Fianna Fáil wants grant of €28,000 to get firms on their feet
:: One-off funding linked to rates
ONE-OFF grants of up to €28,000 will be available to businesses in the retail, hospitality, tourism and leisure sectors under plans being proposed by Fianna Fáil.
The party has suggested the Government should introduce the grant for ratepayers in these industries. The proposal is based on a scheme introduced in Northern Ireland.
In a letter to Business Minister Heather Humphreys, Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy said businesses in the North can apply for a £25,000 (€28,000) grant.
“I wonder have such polices been examined for deployment in this jurisdiction?” Mr Troy added.
He also called for a review of the eligibility for the Government’s recently announced Restart Grant which allows businesses to reclaim €10,000 of rates they paid last year.
“If a business cannot provide a rates evaluation for 2019, which new businesses might not be able to, then they cannot access the grant,” he said.
Mr Troy’s party is currently engaged in government formation talks with Fine Gael and the Green Party.
It is expected the Longford-Westmeath TD’s proposals will be put forward during negotiations later this week when the parties discuss proposals for kick-starting the economy.
Meanwhile, an Irish Tourism Recovery Taskforce will be announced today to advise the Government on how to help the beleaguered industry.
The 14-member group will be led by independent chair Ruth Andrews, CEO of the Irish Tour Operators Association, and includes Paul Kelly, CEO of Fáilte Ireland, and Niall Gibbons, CEO Tourism Ireland.
It will also include travel expert Eoghan Corry and Center Parcs CEO Martin Dalby, among others.
Tourism Minister Shane Ross said: “All new and innovative ideas for recovery will be considered.”
Elsewhere, an EU aid package worth a total of €2trn can play a vital role in helping Ireland rebuild the economy after coronavirus and get people back to work, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said.
Speaking after a video conference of EU finance ministers, Mr Donohoe also welcomed the latest joint proposal by France and Germany for a €500bn coronavirus rescue fund giving grants to member states.
The money would be raised by breaking a long-standing taboo about the EU borrowing heavily on international money markets and repaying it out of Brussels coffers.
Mr Donohoe said discussions were continuing on how this initiative, proposed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel
Macron, would work in practice.
Brussels diplomats said the ‘frugal four’ – Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Denmark – remained opposed to the EU shouldering member states’ debts and are also against expanding the overall scale of the EU budget.
Ireland has thrown its lot in with nine member states led by France, and including the worst-hit states, Spain and Italy, seeking massive non-repayable grants to help tackle the economic fallout.
Mr Donohoe said it would be wrong to assume anything about the ‘frugal four’ and he noted they were continuing to engage in dialogue.
He insisted Ireland can turn things around economically. But while much depended on international trends – the EU signals were positive.
“We have the ability to recreate the economy and get ourselves to a better place,” Mr Donohoe said, arguing Ireland can revive and get people back to work.