Businesses impacted by Storm Babet could get up to €100,000

Kenneth Fox

A multimillion-euro financial support package for families and businesses hit by floods in Cork and Waterford is to be signed off on by the Government on Tuesday.

As the Irish Examiner reports, Minister for Enterprise, Simon Coveney will bring a memo to Cabinet to allow for payouts to businesses of up to €100,000, while Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys is to bring details of an enhanced humanitarian scheme to support households.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday's meeting, Mr Coveney said: "What I’m doing now is putting a proposal together, for Government, that we would be able to apply the scheme as it is currently to parts of Cork that were flooded.

“Then to have a second scheme, that the Red Cross can apply, when appropriate, particularly in Midleton, with much higher thresholds where businesses will get a higher initial payment."

It is understood that the proposals include:

The existing humanitarian relief scheme for businesses, with quick payments of up to €5,000 available, alongside assessed and audited payouts of up to €20,000;

A second emergency relief scheme, which would see quick payments of €10,000 made available, with audited and assessed relief up to €100,000.

Mr Coveney said what had happened in Midleton was the "worst damage" he had seen and a new, enhanced scheme was needed

Separately, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan is to introduce a new low-cost loan scheme to help homeowners with the cost of retrofitting houses to make them more energy efficient, warmer, and cheaper to run.

A total of €500 million will be set aside for the energy upgrade loan scheme, with homeowners able to borrow between €5,000 and €75,000 at interest rates that will be significantly lower than those available through banks and other lenders.

Meanwhile, Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien is to bring details of the much-anticipated 'right of first refusal' for tenants to Cabinet.

The general scheme of the bill sets out a new statutory right to purchase for tenants if their landlord decides to sell the property in which they are living.

Where a notice of termination is served on the basis of the landlord’s intention to sell the rented home, the landlord would be obliged under section 12 of the Residential Tenancies Act to simultaneously invite their tenant to make a bid to purchase the property within 90 days.