THE decision to extend the deadline to use £100 'Spend Local' cards offered to every adult in Northern Ireland will undoubtedly be welcomed by all those whose applications have faced delays.
It had been hoped that everyone who applied to the scheme would have received their cards by this week, giving time to spend the money before a November 30 cut-off.
Economy minister Gordon Lyons told the assembly on Tuesday that more than one million cards had been dispatched, with £26.5m already injected into the economy.
However, with around 400,000 people still thought to be waiting, the deadline has been extended by two weeks until December 14.
A variety of issues have been reported by people applying to the £145m scheme, intended to boost high street footfall and spending in the wake of Covid restrictions.
Around 100,000 people were initially told they had 'failed' a verification process and would have to confirm their identity. Some expressed concern that the email was a scam, while there were technical issues uploading documents.
In addition, queries have been raised around activation of cards and payment being declined when making purchases.
While such administrative issues do little to enhance Stormont's reputation in areas of competence, the real risk created by extending the scheme is to further dilute its impact.
A voucher scheme to help local traders was first announced a year ago and accounts for around half of the £290m budget for the Department for the Economy's post-lockdown recovery plan.
Timing was always going to be critical and a report commissioned by the department recommended its operation in August, September and October.
The concern is that by waiting until now, some spending will be on Christmas shopping that would have happened anyway. The two-week extension can only increase that risk.
Coming at a time when households have been hit with huge increases in home heating bills and other costs, there are also questions about whether Stormont is making the best use of limited resources.
Rather than gifting £100 to all adults regardless of income, £145m could have ensured a £20 uplift to those receiving Universal Credit - recently ended by the British government - would remain in place for another year.
With cards already in wallets, however, such questions may be for another day. It can only be hoped that shoppers now use the money on local retailers, as intended, to ensure some Christmas cheer after a difficult 20 months for us all.
