Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 135 and 154 together.

The Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) grant was announced as part of the Budget 2024 package. It is intended to particularly benefit small and medium sized businesses who operate from a rateable premises. The grant is only available to businesses who operate from a rateable premises and will not be available to vacant premises.

The grant is intended to aid firms who have been affected by increases in business costs but it is not intended to directly compensate for all increases in wages, or other costs, for every business, nor is it intended to be a scheme specific to increases in the minimum wage. The total allocation for the ICOB grant is €257m.

Officials within my Department are leading the introduction of this scheme and are working in conjunction with the Local Authorities, the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), the County and City Management Association (CCMA) and the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage. A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is currently being drafted between the Department and the Local Authorities, to underpin the operation of this scheme. This SLA will cover the delivery, funding, and oversight arrangements for the grant scheme.

The administration of the ICOB will be carried out by Local Authorities with a view to providing relief to qualifying firms in the first quarter of this year. It is not intended that there be a formal application process, rather it is intended that the business will be contacted directly by the local authorities.

The grant scheme has been set up in this way to ensure that the scheme is accessible to smaller businesses, who may have had difficulties availing of previous schemes. However, there is no intention to limit the scheme in any way related to employee numbers.

In order to qualify the ICOB grant, a business must also, at a minimum, meet the eligibility conditions set out below:

• The business is a commercially trading business operating directly within a premises that is commercially rateable by a Local Authority.
• The business has provided confirmation of its bank details to the respective Local Authority.
• The business is rates compliant, including those businesses with a phased payment arrangement in-place.
• The business is tax compliant, and in possession of a valid Tax Registration Number.

Estimates undertaken by my officials suggest that the ICOB Grant will be available to up to 143,000 businesses operating from a rateable premises, or approximately 95% of all commercially trading business premises nationwide. This analysis was carried out by my officials based on the rateable valuations data provided by Tailte Éireann. However, the final number of qualifying premises may differ, as exclusions for vacant premises, non-rates compliant businesses and non-tax compliant businesses and other factors are considered. Subject to these considerations, it is estimated that up to 6126 business premises in the South Dublin County Council area may be eligible for the grant.

In terms of further supports for SMEs, the Local Enterprise Offices provides a suite of productivity and competitiveness supports to small businesses in the areas of Lean, Green and Digital. These include the Trading Online Voucher, Green for Business, and the Energy Efficiency Grant. The ‘All in a Day’s Work’ national campaign emphasises the benefits of these supports for businesses; namely saving them time, energy, and money.

The Government will continue to monitor what remains a challenging businesses environment and continue to support Irish businesses.