John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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123. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of businesses in each of the four Dublin local authority areas that have registered for the increased cost of business grant to date; when payments under the grant will commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16886/24]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As you will be aware, as part of Budget 2024, the Government signed off on a package of €257 million for the Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) grant as a vital measure for small and medium businesses.

Local Authorities, funded through the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, are administering the grant to qualifying businesses on behalf of the Department.

Local Authorities have written to all rate paying businesses with details of how to register for the grant and it is a very simple process for businesses to verify their details through an online portal.

The grant has been open for registrations since 14 March. Local Authorities will begin to send payments to eligible businesses from Monday next 22 April. The closing date for registrations for the ICOB grant is 1 May 2024. I urge all eligible businesses to register for this grant as soon as they receive a letter from their Local Authority. The sooner a business registers the sooner their details will be verified and the grant will be paid out.

In relation to the uptake of the scheme in the four Dublin Local Authorities referred to in the question, the latest figures as at Tuesday 16th April are as follows:

Dublin City Council has 3709 registrations which is 21% of businesses notified

Dun Laoghaire - Rathdown County Council has 1148 registrations which is 23% of businesses notified

Fingal County Council has 1662 registrations which is 26% of businesses notified

South Dublin County Council has 1438 registrations which is 26% of businesses notified.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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124. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to outline the current process with respect to applications for the increased cost of business grant; the number of applications received to date by each respective local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17003/24]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As you will be aware, as part of Budget 2024, the Government signed off on a package of €257 million for the Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) grant as a vital measure for small and medium businesses.

Local Authorities, funded through the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, are administering the grant to qualifying businesses on behalf of the Department.

Local Authorities have written to all rate paying businesses with details of how to register for the grant and it is a very simple process for businesses to verify their details through an online portal.

The grant has been open for registrations since 14 March. Local Authorities will begin to send payments to eligible businesses from Monday next 22 April. The closing date for registrations for the ICOB grant is 1 May 2024. I urge all eligible businesses to register for this grant as soon as they receive a letter from their Local Authority. The sooner a business registers the sooner their details will be verified and the grant will be paid out. Payments will be made to eligible businesses in the coming weeks.

The following is the situation in relation to uptake of the scheme across all Local Authorities as at Tuesday 16th April.