Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government has provided significant support to enterprise throughout the period of increasing costs and 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, including:

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

The Increased Cost of Business Scheme (ICOB) was also announced as part of Budget 2024 and will provide a grant to benefit a significant number of small and medium businesses at a cost of €257 million. The grant will be at a rate of half an enterprise’s commercial rates bill, for 2023, for firms paying up to €10,000 in rates. A flat €5,000 grant will be available to firms who pay between €10,000 and €30,000 in rates.

The ICOB Grant will be available to up to 143,000 businesses, or 95% of all commercially trading business, operating from a rateable businesses in all corners of Ireland. The administration of the ICOB will be carried out by Local Authorities and it is intended that the grant will be provided to qualifying premises in the first quarter of this year. The grant scheme has been set up in the way so as to ensure that the scheme is accessible to smaller businesses, who may have had difficulties availing of previous schemes.

My Department, in collaboration with the Department of Social Protection, is also assessing the cumulative impact of recent and forthcoming changes to working conditions, including the Living Wage, Auto-Enrolment Retirement Savings Scheme, Parent’s Leave and Benefit, Statutory Sick Pay, the Additional Public Holiday, and Remote Working. This follows a recommendation by the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council that a cumulative impact assessment be undertaken. The report is being finalised with publication due in the upcoming weeks 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.