Minister Humphreys urges employers to avail of the Wage Subsidy Scheme

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD, has again strongly encouraged employers to avail of the Wage Subsidy Scheme, an innovative scheme to support companies to retain employees and to re-employ employees who have recently been laid off due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Minister said: “I was delighted to hear the Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, Niall Cody, confirm  that over 12,650 companies have already applied for the scheme and that over €5.4 million is making its way from Revenue to these companies’ bank accounts. 

“Indeed, I would echo his call for employers to ensure their bank details are up to date as there is €427,000 worth of support that Revenue cannot transfer to 260 companies because of incorrect bank details.”

The Scheme is to support employers to keep their employees on the payroll through the current Covid-related trading difficulties. This will enable employers to quickly recover when business picks up after the pandemic. Under the terms of the Scheme employers will be refunded up to 70% of an employee's wages - up to a level of €410.

The Minister continued: “While we would encourage employers that are in a position to top up wages to do so, we recognise that this may not be possible for all companies.”

The Minister pointed to Revenue’s further guidance on the Scheme published yesterday which stated that the declaration by the employer is not a declaration of insolvency and that an employer that has been hit by a significant decline in business but has strong cash reserves will still qualify for the Scheme.  Revenue have also said that they will continue to review and update guidelines as appropriate.

Minister Humphreys concluded: “I also note the support of Ibec for this Scheme, describing it as ‘a critical component to ensure the sustainability of our business model.’  I would again stress that the employer-employee relationship is vital for business and this Scheme ensures that this relationship can be maintained in these trying times.  The support will enable companies to retain that employee stability so that they will be ready to return to normality when the worst of this has passed.”