The 'rocky road' faced by businesses as Covid supports end

Almost €7.7bn had been injected into businesses thanks to EWSS by late last month, with firms in accommodation and food services accounting for €1.9bn

Small firms face "a rocky road" as the Government's pandemic supports draw to an end and cost pressures rage because of the war in Ukraine, the business group representing the banks has warned. 

The Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) said that the recovery of the accommodation and food services sector, which was among the worst hit by the Covid health restrictions, will be strongly affected because the wages of 70% of staff in the sector were supported by the employment wage subsidy scheme (EWSS).