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Yesterday the Department of Employment Affairs & Social Protection announced an update to the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme to ensure greater staff retention and links between employer and employees.
👉 Employees with net pay less than €586 per week (€38,000). For those employees with previous average net pay less than €412 per week (equivalent to almost €24,400) the subsidy will be increased from 70% to 85% of their previous net weekly pay. 👉 Where an employer wishes to pay a greater level of top-up - beyond the outstanding 15% of previous pay- (in respect of employees with net pay less than €412 per week) in order to bring the employee’s pay to €350 per week then tapering would not be applied to the subsidy. 👉 There are no changes in respect of those whose previous average net pay was between €500 and €586 per week (equivalent to €31,000-€38,000), who will continue to receive a subsidy of up to 70% of previous net income, up to a maximum of €410 per week. 👉 These changes mean that more employees will now receive a subsidy of €350 per week, and those with previous net pay below €412 per week will now receive a greater level of subsidy. 👉 The wage subsidy is now available to support employees where the average net pre-Covid salary was greater than €76,000, and their gross post-Covid salary has fallen below €76,000 https://www.gov.ie/…/c3e1eb-minister-donohoe-announces-upd…/ Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Housing, Planning and Local Government, Darragh O’Brien, has welcomed news that homeowners with mortgages from their local authority and Rebuilding Ireland home loans can now apply for a three-month payment break.
The payment break is open to those who have already faced mortgage difficulties due to the Covid-19 emergency and any Rebuilding Ireland loan holder who is currently facing financial difficulties can now apply. Deputy O’Brien said: “I am pleased to see the announcement of the payment break for homeowners with mortgages from their local authority and those with Rebuilding Ireland home loans. I worked hard to help secure this deal over the past number of weeks and raised the issue directly with the Minister in the Dáil. “Following on from a conference call last week on the issue, it has been agreed that the breaks are now in place. This is a similar move to the agreement last month between the State’s five banks to provide three-month long payment breaks to individuals affected by Covid-19. “A lot of people have had real concerns as to how they would repay their mortgages because of lay-offs due to the COVID-19 crisis so this will offer those individuals a small reassurance in these uncertain times. If an individual applies for a mortgage break they will not be charged interest for the period of the break, meaning that no additional costs to the original home loan balance will arise for any individual who avails of these measure,” concluded Deputy O’Brien. Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Housing, Planning and Local Government, Darragh O’Brien, has said there is a need to take a stricter approach to international visitors arriving into Ireland onboard passenger ferries in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Deputy O'Brien said: “The emergence of COVID-19 has meant that we have all had to make important sacrifices, both at home and at work. This bank holiday weekend, people are being instructed to stay in their homes and avoid travel even within Ireland to see family or for leisure. “This is fair, given the severity of this virus but these rules are being flouted by many international visitors to Ireland. In 2019, an average of 67,000 people arrives into Ireland each month by sea. Public health will be hugely impacted if even a share of that figure materializes in the coming month.” “Today, seven ships have come into Dublin Port that have the capacity to carry passengers. There is no screening upon entry into Ireland for passengers on these ships, nor are there any entry restrictions. This is at a time when domestic residents are prevented from taking all but essential journeys. “We must facilitate international freight, but we should be taking measures to prevent people coming to Ireland for the purposes of tourism. There are anecdotal reports of many cars with foreign registration plates disembarking from ferries and travelling to popular holiday destinations. The Gardai are out on the roads preventing people from going to holiday homes, but international visitors are free to get a ferry into any of our ports. It is totally wrong and is causing anguish in communities around the country, particularly in affected areas. “Has the government had any engagement with ferry operators or with their government counterparts in places such as the UK and France? Without such restrictions, the efforts of our own citizens to forego their own holidays and freedoms will come to nothing,” concluded Deputy O’Brien. Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Housing, Planning and Local Government, Darragh O’Brien has called on the Department of Housing to immediately introduce a moratorium for local authority loans and Rebuilding Ireland home loans.
Deputy O’Brien said: “I have been working hard to help secure a moratorium on local authority loans and Rebuilding Ireland Home loans and I am pleased that following conversations with the Department, a scheme will be announced in the coming days. “Many people are struggling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I have been contacted by several people worried about loan repayments on local authority loans and the Rebuilding Ireland home loans. I want to reassure people that we are working very hard and finding resolutions to these on-going worries. “Mortgage Breaks due to COVID19 have been agreed by other financial institutions so it is important that people who have local authority loans are also protected at the unsettling period for us all,” concluded Deputy O’Brien.  On conference call with Dept of Housing this afternoon, I again raised the need for mortgage moratorium scheme for local authority loans & Rebuilding Ireland Home loan. As Fianna Fáil Housing Spokesperson I'm pleased to advise that a scheme will be announced in coming days.
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November 2023
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