Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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161. To ask the Minister for Finance the additional energy rebates or energy tax considerations that the Government is considering to apply to the SME sector in order to retain jobs and businesses over the coming six months given the significant energy cost difficulties facing many SMEs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53736/22]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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202. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will outline the details of the temporary business energy support scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52965/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 161 and 202 together.

The Temporary Business Energy Support scheme (TBESS) will assist businesses with their energy costs over the winter months.

The TBESS will be open to businesses that carry on a Case I trade or Case II profession, are tax compliant and have experienced a significant increase in their natural gas and electricity costs. The scheme is being designed to be compliant with the EU state aid Temporary Crisis Framework and as such it will not be open to credit institutions or financial institutions.

The scheme will be administered by the Revenue Commissioners and will operate on a self-assessment basis. Businesses will be required to register for the scheme and to make claims within the required time limits. The scheme will not be open for claims until State aid approval has been received.

The scheme will operate by comparing the average unit price for the relevant claim period with the average unit price in the corresponding reference period in the previous year. If the increase in average unit price is more than 50% then the threshold has passed and the business is eligible for support under the scheme - subject to meeting the other conditions.

The Government and I are very conscious of the scale of the energy crisis and how worried businesses are as they witness the rising cost of energy and of doing business. With this in mind, in Budget 2023, the Government introduced a significant package to help businesses with escalating energy costs and to plan for the future.

In addition to TBESS, there is a new Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme, which will make up to €500 million in low-cost investment loans of up to 10 years available to SMEs, with no collateral required for loans up to €500,000. A minimum of 30% of the lending volume will be targeted towards Environmental Sustainability purposes.

The €200 million Ukraine Enterprise Crisis Scheme, which is being operated by Enterprise Ireland, will assist viable but vulnerable businesses in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors which are suffering the broader effects of the war in Ukraine as well as increasing energy costs.

The reduced rate of VAT on gas and electricity from 13.5% to 9% has been extended until the 28th February 2023. The Government are also raising awareness around energy efficiency, helping businesses to reduce the amount of energy they use and improving take-up of the approximately 20 existing schemes that are already in place for business to help them reduce their energy costs. These include the Green4Micro programme and the Climate Toolkit for Business.

Additionally, small and medium businesses can currently receive an energy audit voucher from SEAI to get professional advice on how to increase efficiency and reduce their costs. Other financial assistance includes the SEAI Community Grant and grants for microgeneration.

Further information on the available business energy schemes can be found on the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment’s website.