Paschal Donohoe: Wage Subsidy Scheme to continue after June - but payments may be cut
The Minister for Finance has said that the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, due to expire in June, will continue “in a form” and exactly what that form will be is currently under discussion.
“We will outline a pathway, it will continue in some form,” Paschal Donohoe told RTÉ radio’s .
Changes are due to be made today to the way the special payments are made, to make sure it is more effective for those on lower incomes and the scheme is keeping over 400,000 people in a job which is critical, said Mr Donohoe.
However, he said that due to the cost of the payments, they will have to be changed in a way that is affordable but also makes sense.
"They are costing many hundreds of millions of euros per week," he said.
"What I and the Government will aim to do is change those payments in a way that is affordable but also makes sense for our citizens."
Whatever changes are required for the national finances will be balanced over time, he said. Increasing taxes would impact on the way people go back to work and would make creating jobs harder.
"The way to sustain this will be through borrowing. We can borrow to fund the measures we have there."
The €6bn suite of measures announced on Saturday had been “broadly welcomed” said Mr Donohoe.
If a small company has its wages paid by the government, their tax liability ‘warehoused’, rates waived and has access to grants then they will get their company up and running, he said.
“We will revise those supports as we go along and ensure they are adequate.”
Mr Donohoe said that he was absolutely confident the country can rise to and overcome the current challenges to the national finances and to the numbers of job losses.
The forecast deficit could rise beyond €23bn, he warned, depending on the success achieved in overcoming the public health challenge.
When asked about legislation necessary to make changes, Mr Donohoe said he agreed with Green Party leader Eamon Ryan that a new government could be formed by the end of the month.
Negotiations were being entered in good faith and it was important to get the balance right between what the country needs at this difficult time and aspirational measures. Nobody involved in the process of negotiating a new government wanted another election, he said.
