Editor’s Note
The good news is that Micheál Martin doesn’t see lockdown trading restrictions continuing indefinitely. By throwing his weight behind Ireland’s participation in a ‘British Isles’ bid to stage the FIFA World Cup, the Taoiseach is endorsing the idea of crowds gathering in a stadium again to cheer on their team. The bad news is that the tournament he has in mind is fixed for 2030. Whether Martin will be as accommodating for the four Euro 2021 games scheduled for Dublin in June remains to be seen.
Though everyone in harm’s way from Covid-19 will be vaccinated by then, government could hardly invite in squads of foreign footballers while slapping €2,000 fines on citizens heading in the other direction for a Majorca sun holiday. It goes without saying that NPHET will advise Martin to bail out from participation. The rationale, as always, will be to ensure that Covid patients don’t take up bed space in hospitals.
The weekly cost of cramming down Covid no matter what the consequences to restricted businesses and their staff runs to €310m per week (see page 12). The UK has been equally generous with supports, and chancellor Rishi Sunak outlined in his recent Budget how he intends to claw back some of the outlays. Corporation tax will be hiked by six points to 25%, though not until 2023, and from this year personal income tax allowances will be frozen until 2026. Finance minister Paschal Donohoe can’t copy that one: in Ireland the allowances have hardly budged over the past decade.
Sunak also extended the UK’s wage supports until the end of September. In February, Donohoe extended wage subsidies and PUP to the end of June, which is as good a signal as any that government envisages a very slow lockdown unwinding. Not a few individuals and employers will be very relieved to receive three more months of free cash. Whenever restrictions are properly lifted, they’ll have to deal with the legacy tax and debt issues that have been parked, not to mention deciding whether it’s time to throw in the towel.
Hairdressers like Brown Sugar’s Mark O’Keeffe (page 20) will be fine when they are permitted to re-open. It’s a different story for ventures that rely on travel and tourists for their trade. Senior accountants concur (page 51) that these enterprises will require ongoing hand-holding if they are to survive. Hopefully minister Donohoe will have a new targeted support and funding scheme for them ready to go later this year.