Taoiseach outlines “ambition to drive a jobs-rich recovery”
There are a number of aspects to the National Economic Plan
The Pandemic Unemployment Payment will be completely phased out by February 8th next year.
The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme has been extended to the end of the year, under the government’s National Economic Plan.
It sets out how Ireland is expected to recover over the coming months and years with Taoiseach Micheál Martin setting out their targets for getting people back to work.
He says “And these are rooted in an overall ambition to drive a jobs-rich recovery and to exceed pre-pandemic employment levels by having 2.5million people in work by 2024”.
As more people pick up jobs, pandemic supports will be phased out.
The Pandemic Unemployment Payment will be cut by €50 in September, and again in November, before being scrapped in February as we outlined earlier (read that here).
The wage subsidy scheme will last until the end of this year.
While the 9% reduced VAT rate for the hospitality sector has been kept until September 2022.
Other business supports like the CRSS payments will continue into the autumn.
Tánaiste and Business Minister Leo Varadkar says it’s support, not slashing, noting “I believe that with this plan our economy’s going to take off like a rocket in the months ahead”.
Cabinet also agreed to bring houses built after 2013 under the property tax rules, which will mean increased bills for thousands of people, though it’s not clear when that will start.
