Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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246. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason a children’s play centre in Donegal (details supplied) has been denied the second phase of the increased cost of business grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36441/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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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 sclosed 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 or hospitality sector, 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.