Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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95. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of applications received for the cost of business support grant in Galway City Council, the number granted and the cost of same; the number of applications received for the cost of business support grant in Galway County Council, the number granted and the cost of same; the timeline for when all successful applicants will receive the grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23072/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Government is very aware that SMEs have faced a number of economic shocks in recent years which have resulted in cost increases.

On May 15th, I, along with my Government colleagues, announced a substantial range of measures to reduce costs for small and medium sized businesses.

Included in these measures was the reopening of the ICOB portal from 15th May to 29th May, in order to allow rate paying business owners who have not registered to do so. We have received feedback that the process of registering is simple and quick.

As part of re-opening the ICOB scheme and given the greater impact that increased costs are having on the hospitality and retail sector, as noted in the DETE-DSP joint working paper titled ‘An Assessment of the Cumulative Impact of Proposed Measures to Improve Working Conditions in Ireland’, it has been agreed that business operating in these sectors will receive a second payment for approved businesses or a double payment for new registrations under this scheme.

Payments are currently being made to eligible businesses, once business details are verified the Local Authorities process the payments without delay.

The figures you requested as at 21 May are as follows:

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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96. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of businesses, broken down by each local authority area in the State, that have registered for the increased cost of business grant by close of scheme, in tabular form. [23113/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Government is very aware that SMEs have faced a number of economic shocks in recent years which have resulted in cost increases.

On May 15th, I, along with my Government colleagues, announced a substantial range of measures to reduce costs for small and medium sized businesses.

Included in these measures was the reopening of the ICOB portal from 15th May to 29th May, in order to allow rate paying business owners who have not registered to do so. We have received feedback that the process of registering is simple and quick.

As part of re-opening the ICOB scheme and given the greater impact that increased costs are having on the hospitality and retail sector, as noted in the DETE-DSP joint working paper titled ‘An Assessment of the Cumulative Impact of Proposed Measures to Improve Working Conditions in Ireland’, it has been agreed that business operating in these sectors will receive a second payment for approved businesses or a double payment for new registrations under this scheme.

The latest figures relating to ICOB registrations are from 21 May and are as follows:

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Government is very aware that SMEs have faced a number of economic shocks in recent years which have resulted in cost increases.

On May 15th, I, along with my Government colleagues, announced a substantial range of measures to reduce costs for small and medium sized businesses.

Included in these measures was the reopening of the ICOB portal from 15th May to 29th May, in order to allow rate paying business owners who have not registered to do so. We have received feedback that the process of registering is simple and quick.

As part of re-opening the ICOB scheme and given the greater impact that increased costs are having on the hospitality and retail sector, as noted in the DETE-DSP joint working paper titled ‘An Assessment of the Cumulative Impact of Proposed Measures to Improve Working Conditions in Ireland’, it has been agreed that business operating in these sectors will receive a second payment for approved businesses or a double payment for new registrations under this scheme.

The following table is the up-to-date list of registrations per Local Authority as at 21st May:

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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98. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will be taking any further measures to bolster and support small businesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23099/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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This Government has adopted an active approach in supporting the Irish SME sector across multiple crises over the last number of years. Over the two-year period 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 (most significantly the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme). Budget 2024 also contained several measures which will support businesses facing increased costs.

• €257m in support announced through the Increased Cost of Business grant
• 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,
• an increase in VAT registration thresholds for SMEs to €40,000 for services and €80,000 for goods.

• Ensuring that the employer PRSI threshold is explicitly considered as part of the Low Pay Commission deliberations and is reviewed on each occasion that the minimum wage is increased.
• Increasing the employer PRSI threshold from €441 to €496 with effect from 1 October 2024
• Reopening the Increased Cost of Business Scheme for another 14 days and launching a second phase of the Scheme targeted at businesses in the retail and hospitality sectors
• Doubling the Innovation Grant Scheme from €5,000 to €10,000
• Increasing the maximum amount available under the Energy Efficiency Grant Scheme to €10,000 and reducing the business contribution rate from 50% to 25%
• Widening the eligibility for the Trading Online Voucher and doubling the grant to €5,000
• Increasing the lending limit for Microfinance Ireland loans to €50,000 from €25,000
• Widening the eligibility for the Digital for Business Consultancy Scheme
• Launching a new ‘Ireland’s Best Entrepreneur Programme’ to encourage entrepreneurship
• Launching the new online National Enterprise Hub for SMEs to access information on the wide range of Government business supports
• Implementing an enhanced ‘SME Test’ by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in conjunction with the Department of An Taoiseach
• Reviewing forthcoming ESRI research on the impact of Statutory Sick Leave before deciding on any further increases
• Reviewing the proposed Roadmap for Increasing Minimum Annual Remuneration Thresholds for Employment Permits.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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99. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 102 of 18 April 2024, the status of his Department’s decarbonisation Roadmaps for Ireland’s manufacturing industry and for Ireland’s commercial built environment; the timeline for publication of the two roadmaps; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23076/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Climate Action Plan 2023 included actions EN/23/3(TF) and BE/23/31(TF) to develop roadmaps for the decarbonisation of industrial heat in our manufacturing sectors, and our commercial buildings. These are being developed through the Heat and Built Environment Taskforce. My officials chair two workstreams under the Taskforce, the Industrial Heat Decarbonisation Working Group and the Commercial Built Environment Working Group.

Under the Industrial Heat Decarbonisation Working Group, this industry roadmap was due to be published in Q4 2023, but has been delayed. Drafting of the roadmap is now at final editing and design stage, and will be published in the coming weeks. The roadmap will outline the trajectory to meet these binding decarbonisation targets for industry emissions. It will also set out the key policy interventions to decarbonise heat use in industry, including the supports available to companies, the regulations to promote decarbonisation, and the enabling measure that will facilitate the transition.

The Commercial Built Environment Decarbonisation Roadmap will similarly set out the key policy interventions to achieve the objectives set out for decarbonising our commercial building stock, and will be published subsequent to the Roadmap for decarbonisation of industrial heat. In order to support businesses in decarbonising their premises, the roadmap will set out the state supports, regulations and enabling measures that will help drive the necessary changes in commercial heating systems, drive efficiencies and support the uptake of smart energy monitoring and operating technologies, which will all be required to meet the set targets.

Under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, my Department has responsibility to reduce industry on-site emissions (manufacturing, including cement and alumina) by 20% by 2025 and 35% by 2030, and alongside the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, is also committed to reducing emissions from the heating of commercial buildings by 20% by 2025 and 45% by 2030.