FINANCE Minister Conor Murphy has announced details today of a grant scheme to help the north west’s hospitality industry.
The scheme will see small businesses receive £800 for every two weeks they are closed, while larger businesses will receive £1,200 for two weeks.
Pubs, restaurants and hotels in the Derry City and Strabane council area have been operating under tighter Coronavirus restrictions since Monday.
The grant scheme is in addition to the 12 month rates holiday that will continue until the end of March 2021.
Last week businesses leaders in the north west said there were serious concerns about the impact of the new measures on the hospitality industry in the region.
Mr Murphy said the scheme was more generous than similar support packages that had been offered in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
The executive-funded grant scheme is set to cost £350,000 for the initial two weeks.
In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Murphy said: “The restrictions imposed in Derry and Strabane are necessary to preserve lives, but they have a very damaging impact on the hospitality sector.
“The executive is doing its best to mitigate the economic impact of Covid-19. However, the main support needed for businesses which cannot trade fully is wage subsidy.
“The end of the British Government’s furlough scheme at the end of this month is therefore deeply worrying and I again call for this scheme to be extended, particularly for businesses forced to close.”
SDLP leader and Foyle MP Colum Eastwood has called for a wider support package.
“Any Executive grant scheme needs to be significant enough to keep businesses alive and workers in work.
“Small grants won’t cut it.’’
DUP Foyle MLA Gary Middleton said the package put forward by Mr Murphy “falls well short” of what was required for the north west.
He said: “The difficulty is we’re now in the predicament where financial support coming forward is so minimal that the likelihood is within the next two weeks we’re going to be facing the potential of significant job losses.
“There needs to be a proper financial package to follow this.”
Derry and Strabane has the highest rate of cases per 100,000 in NI.
There have been 1,813 confirmed cases in the Derry and Strabane council area since March – 876 diagnosed in the past seven days.
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