Michael Martin told the Irish Times that by next fall, the Covid-19 vaccine program in Ireland could be “substantially” completed, which would allow the economy to return to normal.
Speaking Inside Business, a podcast from The Irish TimesMartin said the government is working to expand and expand financial support to businesses and individuals affected by the latest Covid-19 restrictions to help them survive the next lockdown.
He believes a Brexit deal will end by the end of the year.
Martin said three vaccines will be available here by the end of January – from Pfizer Biotech, Moderna and AstraZeneca – and he expects the rollout to be effective from March.
The first vaccines are expected to be given on December 30.
“Of course by the end of autumn I want to see a significant portion of the population [] … In the opinion of the European Commission, there should be no difficulty in supply by the end of autumn, ”he said.
Regarding financial assistance to businesses, Martin said: “We may have a significant amount of covid in the community by the end of March, so we will remain on the EWSS. There were restrictions as well. ”
Representatives from the hospitality sector have called on the government to increase payments to the Covid-19 Regulatory Support Program (CRSS) to help businesses survive earlier next year.
CRSS is introduced in the budget and offers a payment to businesses affected by lockdown restrictions. Credit equals 10 percent to $ 20,000 of the average weekly turnover in 2019, and 5 percent of turnover is more than $ 20,000.
The Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) provides a flat rate subsidy to eligible employers, which expires on March 31.
We will take up the issues raised by the hotels with us. We will also look into providing resumption grants when the time comes. The reboot of the hospitality sector will have to do with engineering, because it has been so successful. ”
Economy
“Depending on when the economy returns to pandemic activity, sectors such as aviation and tourism will begin to recover until 2022,” Martin said, before we return to January 2023. To pre-coveted employment levels.
He expects Covid’s total expenditure on the treasury to reach about $ 40 billion, and has not ruled out a tax increase to pay the bill.
“We need to evaluate our spending and priorities and the revenue generating steps we need to follow. But we do not mean sudden and sharp shocks to the economy. ”
“It is impossible to understand that a deal will not work if it has a huge impact on the people,” Martin said in Brexit.
“In equilibrium, I think a deal will happen [by the year end] But I’m not sure. ”
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