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Ireland’s Covid-19 vaccine program could be “substantially” completed by next fall, allowing the economy to start returning to a normalized state, Taoiseach Micheál Martin told The Irish Times.
Speaking to Inside Business, a podcast by The Irish Times, Martin also said that the government was looking to extend and possibly expand a series of financial supports to companies and individuals affected by the latest Covid-19 restrictions in a bid to help them survive. to the next blockade.
And he believes that a Brexit deal will close by the end of the year.
Martin said there would be three vaccines available here by the end of January, from Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca, and he expects the rollout to pick up momentum starting in March.
The first vaccines are expected to be administered on December 30.
“Certainly, in late fall, I would like to see a substantial part of the population [] … according to the European Commission, there should be no supply difficulty in late autumn, ”he said.
Regarding the extension of financial supports to companies, Martin said: “We could still have a substantial degree of Covid in the community by the end of March, so we will continue with EWSS, and also the Minister of Finance is considering the scheme CRSS in terms of its application to hotels because we have to take into account the fact that until December they could not realize too much of the potential of the reopening because we had restrictions on travel between counties and domestic restrictions. “
Representatives from the hotel sector have asked the government to increase the payment of the Covid-19 Support Restrictions Plan (CRSS) to help companies survive the first part of next year.
CRSS was introduced in the budget and offers a payment to companies affected by lockdown restrictions. The credit is equivalent to 10% of the average weekly turnover in 2019 up to € 20,000, plus 5% of the turnover above € 20,000.
The Employee Wage Subsidy Plan (EWSS) provides a flat rate subsidy to qualifying employers and expires March 31.
“We will take care of the problems that the hotels have brought to us. We will also look at the possibility of providing restart grants again when the time comes. We will have to engineer a reboot of the hospitality industry because it has taken a huge hit. “
Economy
In terms of when the economy could return to pre-pandemic activity levels, Martin said it could be “well into 2022” for sectors such as aviation and tourism to start recovering, and that it could be January 2023 before we return. . to pre-Covid employment levels.
He expects Covid’s total costs to the treasury to reach around € 40 billion, and he did not rule out tax increases to pay the bill.
“We have to assess the prioritization in terms of spending and whatever revenue-generating measures we have to follow. But we do not intend sudden and abrupt shocks in the economy. “
On Brexit, Martin said it would be “incomprehensible if no deal was reached given the huge impact on people.”
“Ultimately, I think a deal will be made [by the year end] but I can’t be sure. “
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