The Government have announced details of a new €250m Restart Grant to assist micro and small businesses with the costs associated with re-opening and re-employing workers following COVID-19 closures.
To avail of the Restart Grant, a business must be in the Local Authorities Commercial Rates Payment System and:
- have an annual turnover of less than €5m and employ between 1 to 50 people
- have closed and/or suffered a projected 25%+ loss in turnover to end June 2020
- commit to remain open or to reopen if it was closed
- declare the intention to retaining employees that are on The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) and to reemploy staff on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment where applicable
Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD, spoke about the Restart Grant last week:
“I am acutely aware of the difficulties facing small businesses during these challenging times.
The Restart Grant is designed to help small businesses get back on their feet. The grant can be used to defray ongoing fixed costs, for replenishing stock and for measures needed to ensure employee and customer safety.
Small businesses, whether it the local hairdresser, café or clothes shop, are absolutely vital to the social fabric of our towns and villages throughout the country. These businesses have made huge sacrifices to protect their employees and customers during COVID-19 and we want to help them get back up and running so that they can return to viability and contribute to the national economic recovery.
These are small grants but they can make a big difference in terms of giving businesses an extra helping hand to open their doors again.”
More information is available here.
Applications for the Restart Grant can be made online to local authorities from this Friday 22 May.