High Street voucher: Start date for scheme due on Tuesday

Northern Ireland's economy minister has said details of the £100 high street voucher scheme will be announced on Tuesday.

He said he would be announcing the start and end dates for the scheme.

Anyone aged 18 and over in Northern Ireland will be eligible for the £100 pre-paid card by applying on the NI Direct website.

Gordon Lyons said he and his officials were making sure it was rolled out in the "right and proper way".

"I know there's a lot of excitement out there, people are looking forward to spending their cards," Mr Lyons said

"I'm looking forward to them getting out there as well so we can give that real boost to our economy in the short term and also, hopefully, change behaviours and bring people back into the high street in the long term as well."

'Right and proper way'

Mr Lyons said his department had to be sure "this is done in the right and proper way".

"In the meantime, I would encourage people to think about how they can spend their prepaid cards in order to help boost the local economy and help those businesses that have struggled for so long," he said.

Every adult in Northern Ireland is eligible for a £100 pre-paid card

Earlier, an SDLP assembly member expressed concern that some people could struggle to access the scheme.

Mark H Durkan said some older and vulnerable people without internet access "could end up missing out".

The Department for the Economy said a phone line would be available for those unable to apply online.

People will also be able to register to complete an application on behalf of a "limited number" of other people.

Mark H Durkan wants the vouchers to be automatically issued to pensioners

• NI voucher scheme to launch after 12 September

BBC News NI has seen a letter from Mr Durkan to Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey, asking if her department could help with the roll-out of the voucher.

He said as some older people may not use computers, or have relatives and friends able to help them, there was a risk of "potential exclusion of vast swathes of that cohort" from the scheme.

The assembly member has asked the minister to automatically issue the vouchers to pensioners, whose details are already held by the Department for Communities.

Economy Minister Gordon Lyons (centre) pictured in July when he met retail bodies in Carrickfergus

"Not only will it ensure everyone entitled gets access but it would also reduce a lot of pressure on the system when it does open," Mr Durkan told BBC News NI.

"There could be a detrimental economic impact if fewer people avail of this voucher."

Analysis: Voucher scheme concerns remain

By Richard Morgan, BBC News NI business reporter

We've been talking about Northern Ireland's high street voucher scheme for 10 months and it continues to grab headlines.

The £100 pre-paid card is available to every adult over the age of 18 at a cost of £145m.

A portal for applications should open in the coming weeks as officials want the money spent before the end of November.

The intention is to encourage spending at retailers that have been badly affected by the Covid-19 lockdowns, with a "shop local" message attached.

Concerns have been raised in the past about who will be eligible, with calls to extend the scheme to include 16 and 17-year-olds.

Accessibility for some groups has also been an issue brought up at Stormont's Economy Committee.

The Department for the Economy is overseeing the roll-out of the scheme.

It has also said cards will need to be spent by 30 November, to avoid displacing spending during the peak of the Christmas shopping period.

On Sunday, Sinn Féin's chairwoman of the economy committee, Caoimhe Archibald, said Mr Lyons needed to urgently clarify when the scheme would open.