THE GOVERNMENT is set to launch a brand new initiative to encourage people to book stay-cations rather than holidaying abroad this summer.
As part of the July stimulus package, the government has announced that people will get money back for holidaying in Ireland in the form of a tax credit or rebate.
Domestic holidaymakers will receive €125 back if they spend roughly €600 on accommodation and restaurant bills.
Couples meanwhile will be able to claim as much as €250 back.
The scheme is set to run until October this year and will apply to hotels, restaurants and non-alcoholic drinks.
The initiative is designed to support Ireland's crippled tourism industry amidst the coronavirus pandemic, but also to discourage people from travelling abroad and potentially spreading the disease further.
It is expected both the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and the Temporary Wage Subsidy scheme will also be extended until April next year.
The unemployment payment will be reduced in September to €300 a week, and further evaluated early next year. The structure of the wage subsidy scheme is likely to be changed and reduced over time as well.
Minister of State for Trade, Robert Troy, confirms the payments will not end at next month's deadline:
"What we’ll see later on today is the commitment to extend the wage subsidy and to ensure that some of the anomalies that have been thrown off in relation to businesses that can avail of that subsidy will be ironed out.
"We’ll see an acknowledgement that the restart grants that was introduced previously wasn’t big enough. We’ll see a focus on apprenticeships, retraining, upskilling," he said.
