Details of £40m grant for Hospitality sector delayed until next week

By Q Radio News

A £40m payment fund for the hospitality industry in Northern Ireland announced by Stormont just before Christmas has been delayed by a week.

Details of the scheme were supposed to be published yesterday but the Department of Finance says this will now not happen until next week.

Stormont ministers designed the grant scheme to support hospitality businesses affected by new Omicron restrictions announced in the run up to Christmas.

A £40m payment fund for the hospitality industry in Northern Ireland announced by Stormont in the run up to Christmas has been delayed by a week. #Hospitality https://t.co/5XIGfiWLqP

— Q Radio News (@qnewsdesk) January 11, 2022

Grants of between £10,000 and £20,000 will be available to more than 3,200 eligible businesses.

Eligible businesses include nightclubs, restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, bistros, snack bars, pubs/bars, social clubs or private members’ clubs. 

Sports clubs are not eligible.

Ministers had faced criticism for agreeing and announcing a series of restrictions without an accompanying support package.

The administration currently has around £200 million of funding available to respond to the developing Omicron variant threat, including £100 million recently committed by the Treasury.

The scheme was agreed by the First and deputy First Minister by way of urgent procedure and without the requirement for a meeting of the power-sharing administration.

Details of the fund will now not be announced until next week