Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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574. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of licensed contractors that did not qualify for the enterprise support grant by county. [9995/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Enterprise Support Grant (ESG) is available to eligible self-employed recipients who close their Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) and re-start their business. A once-off grant of up to €1,000, to assist with the costs associated with reopening, is available under this measure.

The grant, of up to €1,000, is payable to self-employed individuals who employ fewer than 10 people, have an annual turnover of less than €1 million and are not eligible for support from similar business reopening grants from other Departments.

Almost 8,800 applications have been approved since the introduction of this grant, with funding of in excess of €8m paid to small businesses. In the same period, there have been approximately 650 applicants for the grant rejected. The vast majority of these applications were rejected as the self-employed individual was not closing a PUP claim. A self-employed individual will not be refused the grant on the basis of their business sector. Statistics are not available of those who are licensed contractors.

A provision of €12m is available for this support in 2021. The extension of this grant into 2021 ensures supports remain available to qualified self-employed individuals who close their PUP as restrictions are eased. Detailed information about this grant and other supports for self-employed individuals is available at www.gov.ie/dsp.

If there is a particular grant application that the Deputy has a concern about, my officials would be happy to examine it.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.