Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)

From having spoken to many businesses that have applied for ICOB grants 1 and 2 and the power up grant, I am aware they were essential grants and have been hugely beneficial across all sectors. The Department approved an overall budget of €257 million as part of the ICOB scheme. Some €246 million of that was expended on the scheme in 2024. On ICOB, this week my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Burke, brought a memo to Cabinet on the appeals process. We understand there were challenges around the misclassification of certain sectors across retail, hospitality and beauty. We have engaged with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform on how we can ensure that those businesses which were misclassified and found to be ineligible for the scheme can reapply. We will take a number of steps over the coming weeks in order to address that.

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