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Taxi drivers can get £1.5k one-off pay

A CORONAVIRUS support scheme for Northern Ireland taxi drivers opens tomorrow.

Self-employed drivers who are eligible and were working or available for work from March 22 and September 30, can get a one-off payment of £1,500.

Applications close on Friday, November 27.

A spokesperson for the Department for Infrastructure said:

“It will provide a one off payment of £1500 to eligible self-employed taxi drivers who were working or available for work between 22 March 2020 and 30 September 2020.

“This one off payment will be a contribution to the eligible applicant’s yearly overhead costs including PPE and recognises the financial pressures sustained by eligible taxi drivers due to Covid-19.

“Applications will be assessed as quickly as possible as they are received.”

CORONAVIRUS talks at Stormont ended in stalemate again last night – after the DUP used the petition of concern to veto a lockdown extension.

Ministers will now resume talks this morning – ahead of current legislation lapsing at midnight tonight – to try to find a solution.

The DUP veto last night came after all the other executive parties had backed a proposal to extend the lockdown from health minister Robin Swann.

Those same parties voted down alternative proposals from DUP economy minister Diane Dodds that would have led to a partial reopening of the hospitality sector.

Divisions at the head of the powersharing administration have been laid bare over recent days as ministers struggle to agree new pandemic response measures.

The DUP had already vetoed a proposal from Mr Swann to extend the current circuit-break by two weeks, despite the other four executive parties again backing the move.

During a third executive meeting in three days on Wednesday, Mr Swann suggested a one-week extension of the measures, which have forced much of the hospitality sector to close.

DIVISIONS

It is understood the one-week proposal was designed to buy some time and avoid the cliff edge of the current regulations lapsing at midnight tonight.

The DUP again vetoed the proposal using a contentious voting mechanism.

The Executive’s two main parties – the DUP and Sinn Fein – are engaged in a claim and counterclaim spat amid a failure to reach consensus ahead of the looming end of the current circuitbreak.

Ministers will now resume discussions this morning on proposals tabled by Justice Minister Naomi Long.

It is understood Mrs Long is now developing a paper that would fuse Robin Swann’s one-week extension proposal with Diane Dodds’ plans for partially reopening the hospitality sector.

Under the proposal, the circuit break would continue for a further week before the introduction of measures that would allow cafes and coffee shops to reopen and close contact services to resume.

DUP First Minister Arlene Foster said her partners in government had to explain why they had changed position. Mrs Foster told the BBC: “She