Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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It is understandable that businesses are concerned about the impact of rising costs, and this Government is continuing to monitor the situation regarding the costs of doing business. It is also important to acknowledge that SMEs, and in particular the retail and hospitality sectors, are key employment generators for Ireland, particularly in more rural areas.

Significant support has been provided to enterprise throughout the period of increasing costs, and the Government has been proactive in this regard. However, it is not possible to insulate every business from the total impact of rising costs.

Over the two years prior to Budget 2024, a total of €12 billion was provided in cost of living and doing business supports, comprising a mix of permanent and one-off measures. The main programme introduced by Government to alleviate cost pressures for small business was the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS), with businesses receiving direct payments and tax liability offsets to the value of €150 million.

Budget 2024 also contained several measures to support businesses facing increased costs. For example:

• The 9% VAT reduction for gas and electricity was extended for an additional 12 months, until the 31st of October 2024;
• The temporary excise rate reductions applying to auto diesel, petrol and marked gas oil were extended, until the 31st of March 2024; and,
• There was an increase in VAT registration thresholds for SMEs to €40,000 for services and €80,000 for goods.

The Increased Cost of Business Grant was also announced and will be targeted at small and medium sized businesses who operate from a rateable premises. This scheme is intended to aid firms who have been most affected by increases in business costs but is not intended to directly compensate for all increases in wages, or other costs, for every business. The total allocation for the ICOB grant is €257 million.

My Department is currently working with the Local Authorities on the administration of the ICOB grant, to ensure that support can be provided in early 2024. The Grant will be available to up to 143,000 businesses operating from a rateable premises, or 95% of all commercially trading business premises nationwide.

An important consideration facing many firms relates to those tax debts warehoused during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minister for Finance has announced that Government will make changes to the Tax Debt Warehousing scheme including a reduction in the interest rate applying to warehoused tax debt to 0%.

Over the last number of years this Government has introduced or progressed several initiatives to improve working conditions in Ireland, including progress towards introducing a living wage, an auto-enrolment retirement savings scheme, the right to request remote work, sick pay legislation and improvements to parent’s leave and parent’s benefit. An assessment is currently being undertaken by my Department and the Department of Social Protection which will examine the cumulative impact on enterprise of these measures. This assessment has been informed by engagement between officials from my Department and both employer and employee representatives. This report is currently being finalised and will inform public policy in this area.

This Government has adopted an active approach in supporting Irish businesses across multiple crises over the last number of years, including the introduction of unemployment supports during the COVID -19 pandemic, the provision of financial supports to firms facing the implications of Brexit, and more recently, through the period of increasing overhead costs. My Department is fully committed to serving the SME sector and the measures included in Budget 2024 reflect this.