Irish hair and beauty industry cautiously welcomes July Stimulus
The Irish Government has announced its July Stimulus package, which aims to accelerate the economic recovery following the impact of Covid-19.
The package involves 50 different measures, worth a combined €5.2bn, including a mixture of grants and tax changes for businesses, as well as supports for workers, the unemployed and consumers in general.
The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) will run until the end of March 2021, however from September it will become the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS). It will change from an income replacement measure to a payroll subsidy support, but will be expanded to include seasonal workers and new hires.
An employment stimulus package will see 10,000 funded work experience places, and recruitment subsidies to encourage firms to hire up to 8,000 people. There will also be a doubling in the grants available for short duration skills training, with 12,500 expected to take advantage of this.
The Restart Grant, which was designed to cover the cost of reopening a business following the Covid-19 lockdown, is to be expanded to offer more money to a greater number of businesses. The grant will rise from a maximum of €4,000 to €25,000. The staffing threshold for qualifying companies will also rise from 50 to 250, or a turnover of up to €25m.
A Stay and Spend scheme is to be introduced, which aims to encourage people to holiday within the country. It is made up of a tax credit of up to €125 per person, which will be available to claim on money spent in Fáilte Ireland-approved facilities between October and April 2021.
The Hairdressing Council of Ireland has cautiously welcomed the supports announced by the Government. It said it particularly welcomes the extension of TWSS and its expansion to include new hires, which it believes will help struggling hairdressing businesses to not only maintain current employment levels, but increase their own levels.
“While the expansion of supports will help our industry begin the road to recovery, there needs to be a timely rollout of these supports in order to prevent further closures and sustain our industry,” said Sean Taaffe, president of the Hairdressing Council of Ireland.
The Irish Spa Association also welcomed the Government announcement. “We are very pleased in particular that the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme has been extended. This was something we discussed frequently in our communications with the Government and it is essential for our industry while we continue to operate at a reduced capacity.”
Other measures included in the July Stimulus are a commercial rates waiver, whereby all businesses will be granted a waiver of commercial rates for the six months to end of September 2020; and a standard rate Vat reduction from 23% to 21%, which is applicable to any retail products sold. This measure will last for a limited period of six months.
