Dail Éireann · 2025-02-20
Part of Other Questions
8 contributions · 3 speakers · 621 words
15. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of businesses in Cork that received the power up grant; the number of businesses that received the increased cost of business grant, ICOB, 1; and the number of businesses that wrote to him or his Department requesting assistance because of a mistake on their initial ICOB application preventing access to the Power Up grant. [6547/25]
19. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will provide an update on the roll-out of the power up grant to businesses that have not been able to avail of the support because of administrative issues; the number of businesses in Dublin 2, Dublin 4, and Dublin 6 that have availed of the grant to date; the total value of this uptake; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6806/25]
20. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of businesses in Tipperary that applied for the power up grant; the number of the applications that were successful; the total value of the grants approved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6716/25]
What is the number of businesses in Cork that received the power up grant; the number of businesses that received the increased cost of business grant, ICOB 1; and the number of businesses that wrote to the Department requesting assistance because of a mistake that was made in the initial ICOB application, which then prevented access later on to the power up grant? This total of €400 million included €154 million in the first phase of ICOB, €90 million in the second phase of ICOB and €158 million through the power up scheme.
In Cork, the first ICOB payment Cork City Council paid out was €9.2 million to 3,602 businesses. On the power up grant, Cork City Council approved 1,773 businesses to the value of €7 million and Cork County Council approved 2,804 applications to the value of €11.2 million under the scheme.
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What is the number of businesses in Cork that received the power up grant; the number of businesses that received the increased cost of business grant, ICOB 1; and the number of businesses that wrote to the Department requesting assistance because of a mistake that was made in the initial ICOB application, which then prevented access later on to the power up grant?
I thank the Deputy. I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 , 19 and 20 together.
In total, the increased cost of business and power up grant schemes paid out a very significant sum, totalling more than €400 million, to support SMEs throughout the country. This total of €400 million included €154 million in the first phase of ICOB, €90 million in the second phase of ICOB and €158 million through the power up scheme. The take-up rate for ICOB was very significant, with 68% of eligible businesses registering for the grant. To get payments to businesses before the end of 2024, the power up grant was aligned with the increased cost of business scheme. A business must have received the second ICOB grant and be in the hospitality, retail and beauty sectors to receive the power up grant.
The Deputies asked about three specific areas: Cork, Tipperary and Dublin city. In Cork, the first ICOB payment Cork City Council paid out was €9.2 million to 3,602 businesses. Cork County Council paid out €9.8 million under the first phase of the scheme to 5,533 businesses. On the power up grant, Cork City Council approved 1,773 businesses to the value of €7 million and Cork County Council approved 2,804 applications to the value of €11.2 million under the scheme. In Tipperary, 1,847 businesses registered for the power up grant and 1,803 businesses were approved for the second value of €7.2 million. In Dublin 2, 4 and 6, which fall under the remit of Dublin City Council, 3,845 businesses received power up grants to a total value of €15.4 million.
What has happened is that it seems a number of businesses made a mistake when they applied for the ICOB 1 grant. Due to that, some of them did not follow up for the second ICOB. When they went for the third grant, even though they were eligible for the power up grant, because they made a mistake at the start, they did not get it. Is there any chance the Minister will reopen that grant for people who qualified for it but made an initial mistake? I have contacted his office, as has Deputy Louise O'Reilly, who is our spokesperson on this. These are genuine businesses that need that money-----
We are way over time. Quickly.
----- and which fill the criteria. Will the Minister show a little common sense and maybe help them, because he has the ability to do so? These businesses need that support.
It is obviously critical that businesses get the support that they need and qualify for. We are working with the Department of public expenditure and reform on rectifying the issue relating to the misclassification. It is critical to demonstrate how much this Government is supporting our SME sector. The forthcoming programme for Government outlines changes we will be implementing in VAT and PRSI to support businesses trading through very significant challenges in terms of the regulatory burden that has been placed on them over recent years. We are there to support them. We will continue to grow our economy and employment numbers. Critically, and we launched the IDA strategy yesterday, we will see 550 new investments into regional Ireland over the next five years.
Will you reopen it for those who made an initial error?
We are working on the reclassification issue.