Thread by @RyanMcAleerbiz

NEW: The Executive has agreed a £338m package of Covid-19 support. It includes £213m for businesses.
Another £150m has been set aside for a potential extended rates holiday for businesses from April.

The £213m package for businesses includes:
• Additional £55m for rates-based grant scheme (£90m total) – extended to include non-essential retail, leisure and ents businesses required to close for two weeks
• £95m high street voucher scheme (via a pre-paid card)

Significant: £20m has been allocated for a scheme for company directors (previously excluded from support)

• £20m to extend rates holiday for manufacturers
• £10.6m for ‘wet pubs’
• £5m top-up to tourism and hospitality scheme
• £4.1m for B&Bs (aimed at 953 businesses)
• £3m to extend digital selling capability grant

The Department for Communities has been allocated £71.5m - £44.3m will go toward a one-off heating payment of £200 to "disabled people on higher rate allowances and older people in receipt of pension credit".

Further DfC allocations
• £10m for councils and sport
• £2.25m for social enterprise
• £5m for charitable grants

Department of Education has been allocated £20.6m for Covid response and £5.8m for 'Covid education restart measures' (includes free school meals during holidays)

The above business support measures are in addition to the £60m previously allocated for the Department for the Economy’s schemes - includes Covid Restrictions Business Support Scheme (CRBSS). Plus DfI's £6m for taxi, bus and coach.

A third DUP MLA has now challenged Conor Murphy over the allocation for the Dept for Economy. The Finance Minister said £137.7m allocated to DfE from a total bid of £390m. But he argued that largest biz support scheme is run by DoF and said £150m had been set aside for rates...

I imagine the most interesting aspect of this for the average person will be the prospect of a pre-paid card (free money) aimed at stimulating the high street in the new year. £95m has been set aside for it.

DfE is to bring forward details of the voucher scheme. Believed it will take approx 6 weeks to roll out, Conor Murphy seemed to suggest that every household could get £200 to be used in Jan-Feb: 'It is not meant to support households, it's meant to stimulate the high street'

Based on some basic scribbling here, I'm estimating there are circa 740,000 households in NI. If that's the scale DfE is working on for the £95m High Street Voucher Scheme, it's more likely the sum per household will be closer to £100 (once you factor in other running costs).

Statement from Diane Dodds confirms high street voucher scheme will be similar to Jersey and Malta. The Jersey scheme gave every households £100, with seemingly little restriction on where it could be spent over 2 months (apart from online shops and bookies) #helicoptermoney