In a joint statement, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media welcomed the commencement of the Stay and Spend scheme on 1 October. On the same day, Revenue published statistics on the EWSS showing the accommodation and food sector as having the largest share of employers registered for the scheme. Commitments were made to monitor the scheme for changes where necessary.

The latest wage subsidy statistics from Revenue show that employers in the accommodation and food services sector make up the largest share of EWSS registered employers, representing 18 percent of the total registered. Employers must experience a 30 percent reduction in turnover or customer orders between 1 July and 31 December 2020, because of COVID-19 disruption, to be eligible for the EWSS.

In the joint press release, Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, TD, discussed that, “When this scheme was designed it was our anticipation then, that our economy would be on the way to full reopening, and there would be full mobility across the country. We know now that’s not the case with some parts of our country in Level 3 of the Government’s plan for living with COVID-19 – Resilience and Recovery 2020–2021.”

The scheme will be monitored, and changes will be made as needed. Minister Donohoe detailed:

“We need to keep policies that are working, and change ones that might not be working as planned, but at all times, ensuring they are affordable”.

The Stay and Spend scheme offers a maximum tax credit of €125 per person or €250 for those under joint assessment for qualifying expenditure incurred between 1 October 2020 and 30 April 2020. The list of qualifying service providers who are participating in the scheme is available on the Revenue website.