Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coveney, has been allocated €250 million to establish a scheme to help businesses with rising costs to cushion the blow of rising costs and to enable them to retain their staff. To put it in context, €250 million is twice the amount claimed under the temporary business energy support scheme this year, so it is a very substantial allocation. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, are working on the detail of the scheme so the money can be paid in the new year, but as is always the case, we have to draw the line somewhere and the more large or medium-sized businesses we bring into it, the less there will be for the very small businesses. That is something the Minister and Minister of State are working on at the moment.

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