How it looked at the hairdressers when they reopened in the North last July 6 with staff and customers wearing protective masks
A written reply from Health Minister Robin Swann to a question by Sinead McLaughlin revealed that close contact businesses in Derry and Strabane were prohibited from trading from October 5, 2020.
However, the Finance Minister confirmed in a written reply to Ms McLaughlin that regulations for the Localised Restrictions Support Scheme only provide for payment to those businesses from October 16, 2020 – a gap of 11 days.
Derry and Strabane was forced into a second lockdown on October 5 after a huge spke in Coronavirus cases across teh council boundary.
Said Ms McLaughlin: “I have been contacted by local businesses that are under severe financial pressure, made much worse by the application of regulations covering payments under the Localised Restrictions Support Scheme (LRSS).
“Businesses tell me that those problems have been exacerbated by officials implementing the LRSS who are now unilaterally and without warning recovering money initially made without authority under the regulations.
“The pandemic has caused a serious crisis for many businesses in Derry and Strabane. It is unacceptable that this has been made worse by the support payments not covering the full period that businesses were prohibited from trading.”
