Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

243. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he is aware that some soft play centres that have a coffee shop attached which accounts for 80% of their turnover and the business is a registered cafe and or restaurant with the HSE have been deemed ineligible for the increased cost of business scheme (ICOB2) grant funding despite the fact that they were eligible for ICOB1 funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36292/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) Scheme opened on 14 March this year. All rateable businesses that met the eligibility requirements were eligible to register for the grant. On 15 May, the Government announced that the retail and hospitality sectors were eligible for a second payment of the grant. The Scheme is now closed for new registrations.

The decision to give a second payment to those sectors was due to the greater impact that increased costs are having on those sectors 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”.

Activity play centres are not eligible for the second payment as their primary business is not in the retail, hospitality sectors, and as per the NACE Codes used to define business categories, their primary function is not hospitality. The final decision on eligibility is with the Local Authority who assess the information provided by the business and make an evidence-based decision based on the primary activity of that business.