THE Department for the Economy's 'Wet Pubs Business Support Scheme' started being rolled out on Monday (January 11), with the aim to provide £10.6m in support for drink-only public houses that have been forced to remain closed due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Minister Diane Dodds said: “Our hospitality industry has been hugely impacted as a result of Covid-19 Health Regulations and amongst those hardest hit are those traditional pubs only serving alcohol.

"These establishments have been required to remain closed for longer than other businesses, and have been unable to trade.

"The Wet Pubs Business Support Scheme will provide £10.6m in support to those drink-only public houses forced to remain closed between July 4 and September 23, 2020 when the rest of the hospitality sector was permitted to open and trade.

“Qualifying wet pubs will be identified by my Department from a list of recipients of the Localised Restrictions Support Scheme provided by Land and Property Services.

"My Department will be contacting them before the end of this January. Businesses will be asked to supply supporting information to ensure all recipients are correctly identified and minimise the risk of fraud and error.

"Once applications are verified, payments will be made as soon as possible thereafter,” she said.