Mattie McGrath Demands Clear Support for Self-Employed in Budget 2021

Minister for Business and Enterprise, what specific measures do you want to take to help the self-employed, both under 66 and over 66, if there are new restrictions imposed, and it looks like there will be, because we saw some last night without any debate or discussion with any group leaders or anything else, so what support are you going to put in place for these hard-pressed people who have given their life to self-employment and provide work for others as well? Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for raising the question. Naturally, the COVID pandemic has caused untold damage to people's lives and livelihoods, and we well recognise that, and the Budget is an attempt to respond to that. We also know that too many businesses have been severely impacted by the restrictions needed to ensure public health safety during the pandemic, and that has to be on our own agenda, is to protect public health while also trying to make sure we can keep our economy alive and open and keep people and jobs and businesses open for as long as we possibly can. Our response to COVID-19 will continue to assist those businesses affected, and the Budget builds on already announced is made in May and again in July, with the July stimulus as well. Budget 2021 provides a significant additional package of tax and fiscal measures to build the resilience of the economy and to help fundable but viable business across all sectors. It has been well recognised by the business community that this is what the Budget is trying to achieve, to protect businesses, to support businesses, to keep their doors open, and to keep their employees on the books, and at first available opportunity to be able to grow that number and to regrow. The Budget comes in addition to the July stimulus, which was a substantial financial package to stimulate our economy worth more than £5 billion, including £2 billion in loan guarantees for the new credit guarantee scheme, which we will see the benefits of in the months ahead. Budget 2021 is unprecedented in terms of a scale at almost £90 billion. Its purpose is to protect lives and livelihoods of everybody in the state, regardless of age. In 2021, workers will see no increases in income tax, the USC or the PRSI. They will see a modest increase in the minimum wage, as recommended by the Low Pay Commission. A reduction from six to three in the waiting days for illness benefit to be paid out on day four, which will be an assistance to both employees but certainly to business, because we all recognise many small SMEs have been trying to work with their employees and carry some of those costs around absentees and so on. So it will certainly help and will lead on to the discussion of introducing the statutory sick pay scheme that the township has spoken about earlier on and has flagged on in recent days. An extension of parental leave benefit by four to three weeks to five weeks billing on the work for the last government. The income tax for the self-implied has been increased as well. The self-implied workers received a PUP. They will also now be able to earn up to €180 per month because there was a strong case made there, but some SMEs are beginning to get back and get some work, but they also want to be able to need the support of PUP to keep them going. We also have the new COVID restriction support scheme, which is very beneficial and will be. The employment wage subsidy scheme will be extended, commercial rates, and there is more I can address in the second part of the question. I thank the Minister and welcome the initiative to the budget. But look, there are cohorts of people out there, all the self-implied workers. I know everybody is affected and we are all in favour of trying to avoid the risks of public health courseware. But public health, as the township said on Clare Burnham, we have to balance that with everything else. We haven't been balancing that with everything else. And quite clearly in your statement, Minister, you said about €140 they can earn. I welcome that. Not because it is the support. It is because they want to keep their business. If they have customers ringing them, they want to be allowed to be able to help out the customers. Because they don't want some big fund company taking their work off them. So they value the service to their customers. And the customers, it is quid pro pro. But, Minister, we have so many businesses. The over-66s, first of all, have been totally excluded, self-implied people. We have the dance schools, we have the musicians, we have the artists and we have many others, even the lorry drivers. They don't pay rates, they can't avail of those schemes because they are parked beside the house. And they have so many expenses. And they have a big network of customers built up. And they want to maintain that. So I welcome that €140 a month for that area. Not from the point of view you are talking about it. Because it just goes to show that your researchers and your people in the department don't get it, what it is like to be said and implied. Because there are not enough of them here talking to you. And there are not enough of them in your party either. I am happy to hear suggestions and ideas that you have to put forward. Because we are still working through the SME Go taskforce. And if we can look at all the ideas and initiatives. We have the economic recovery plan to come forward in November as well. There is a 3.4 billion recovery fund set aside, which is to fund ideas and new initiatives and to try and target certain sectors through all our agencies. There is also the contingency funding. So there is over 5 billion to work with during 2021 that is not specifically allocated in detail under this budget. So we can fund any ideas you bring forward. But this is very much a budget to support business and to support the self implied. We have been engaging with them and through all the representative bodies and individually over the last couple of months to find out what their needs are. And their needs are, number one, wage subsidy. And we have confirmed that the wage subsidy can be extended beyond April next year. The restart grant through the rates has been very, very beneficial. Our business supports do not differentiate around age. You mentioned 66 and under. Our business supports are for all businesses and trying to keep their door open. We recognise that at some levels of the plan, at some restrictions, some companies can't function the way they always would. And we will support them greater with that. That's what the CRIS scheme is for as well. But the big thing is here, we are supporting business and we will work with them. And we have gone sector-specific the welfare need be. Minister, again, you are not getting the payments. The over 66s are excluded. They did not get a fiver even in the pension. They got nothing. So they got nothing in the pub either. They could not get the pub payments. And the pub must be increased to 350 for the other self-implied people that needed it. The wage subsidy, yes, of course, I appreciate that being extended and possibly after April, and indeed, as I said, the pub payments. But we need to have them increased. But you must look at the over 66s. They have been totally abandoned here. They have been closed down. Many of them are publicans. Many of them are taxi drivers. Many of them are bus drivers for private companies. Many of them are bus owners. They are out there. Many of them are musicians. They have wonderful talent to share with the community. And the community love them and the community miss them dearly. So you are missing that whole co-op. We cannot just abandon the people over 66. Some of them are fitter than what we are at that age. God bless them. So we can't abandon them. And we must ensure that the hospitality centre as well. You must deal with the regulators as well, to make sure that utilities and screwing those places that are closed down, hotels and B&Bs, when they are closed, they are still paying huge utility fees. That is totally unacceptable. So you are not listening, Minister, and you are abandoning the over 66s. I want to be clear. Our business support and all the initials we have announced, the July stimulus of £5 billion plus, the budget package just announced was close to £18 billion, on our business support to our department. We do not discriminate on age, and certainly wouldn't. We support business and we support job creation. That is what we are trying to do. And, Deputy, every issue that you raise there, I am happy to say the budget has addressed them. I am very clear on this. We will do more to support business. And, again, I will repeat it in relation to business support. I am very clear, Deputy. If you want to bring forward any new initiatives, new ideas, we will work with that. We have worked with the events sector, with the arts sector to respond to that. Naturally, the budget cannot plug every gap and every hole in their finances. But we are trying to reach out to the different sectors with the different schemes. Again, a lot of business in your own area temporarily will benefit from the rates. The rates for the rest of this year are also cancelled as well and subsidised to the local government. There was a fund for next year as well. So a key ask of business to us was the restart grant, the CRISP scheme, the wage subsidy, and trying to manage the public health messaging to be able to keep their business open. We will do that as long as we possibly can through every level. That's what we are going to try and work on. And again, last night we made changes in relation to retail to be able to keep some of those businesses open as well.