Business support schemes will be extended to July in new Covid plan

Taoiseach will give no consideration to reopening hospitality before mid-summer, while chief executive of restaurants association says businesses are being pushed ‘closer to financial ruin and meltdown’

Taoiseach Micheál Martin: ‘Any easing of the restrictions has to be slow and cautious because of the threat from new variants of the disease.’

The wage subsidy scheme, the pandemic unemployment payment and the grant scheme for shut-down businesses are all set to be extended until the end of June in the government’s new Covid-19 plan, the Business Post has learned.

The move comes amid controversy over the piecemeal announcement of the extension of lockdown measures in recent days. Concerns have also increased over how much longer the severe restrictions will last after it was confirmed that three cases ...