The Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act
2020 (the "Act"), which has passed all
legislative stages and is being signed into law, sets out details
of a wage subsidy support payment scheme introduced as part of the
response by the Government to COVID-19 (the
"Scheme"). The Scheme is administered
through the Revenue Commissioners and aims to provide a special
subsidy to employers to incentivise retention of employees and
avoid additional redundancies due to the ongoing pandemic. The
Scheme has replaced the Covid-19 Employer Refund Scheme which was
set up at the initial stages of the pandemic.
The Scheme essentially operates by permitting employers who
satisfy certain conditions to obtain subsidies of up
to 70% of a specified employee's net
remuneration. Where the employer has satisfied the criteria and
applied the payment correctly, they will be reimbursed by
Revenue.
