Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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345. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will amend the power-up grant scheme so that ‘visitor attractions’ and ‘health services’, such as physiotherapists, are also eligible for the funding support; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45089/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I am very aware of the difficulties businesses continue to face due to rising costs.

The reason for payments in specific sectors is due to the greater impact that increased costs are having on the hospitality and retail and beauty 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”).

In recognition of the challenges those businesses continue to face, I announced the Power Up Grant as part of Budget 2025, which has a budget of €170 million. The Power Up Grant builds on the success of the Increased Cost of Business Scheme. This grant is for businesses in the hospitality, retail and beauty sectors who received a second payment of the ICOB grant. Up to 39,000 of those businesses are now in line to receive a €4,000 Power Up Grant once they continue to meet the eligibility requirements.

The Power Up grant is for businesses in the hospitality, retail and beauty sectors who received a second payment under ICOB and continue to meet the eligibility requirements. Visitor attractions and health service sector such as physiotherapists may have been eligible for the first ICOB grant if they met the criteria under that scheme. A total of €154 million was paid to over 75,000 businesses under the first payment of that scheme.

I have also introduced a range of other supports that are aimed at assisting SMEs.

I introduced changes to the Local Enterprise Office Energy Efficiency Grant to make it more attractive to SMEs. The Energy Efficient Grant supports capital investment by businesses to reduce carbon emissions based on energy efficiency projects. The scheme supports businesses to reduce their carbon emissions and overall energy costs by accelerating the adoption of low carbon technologies or processes identified through a Green for Business, Green Start or SEAI Energy Audit. The grant now offers 75% of project costs, up to a maximum of €10,000. Applications are open since 12 July.

The LEO Digital for Business consultancy assists businesses in understanding digitalisation and its benefits, and developing a digital roadmap for the business, contributing to the overall target of basic digital intensity for small businesses. Digital for business is free with no cost to the applicant.

The Grow Digital Voucher was launched on 4 September. Under this new offer, the funding available has been increased to up to €5,000 and the eligibility criteria expanded to cover a wider range of digital interventions available to a broader range of businesses compared to the Trading Online Voucher.

I launched the National Enterprise Hub on 10 July 2024, it is a new all-of-government service, funded through my Department and operated by Enterprise Ireland. It is staffed by expertly trained advisors and is focused on helping businesses access a range of government supports.

Further there was a number of enterprise tax measures announced in Budget 2025 which will be of relevance to businesses. These include:

• Changes to the CGT Retirement Relief to support intergenerational transfers;
• Raising the VAT registration threshold to €85,000 for goods and €42,500 for services;
• Enhancements to the Small Company Start Up Relief;
• Increasing the Small Benefit Exemption Limit to €1,500, and the number of benefits allowable from 2 to 5 annually;
• A €125 increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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346. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will outline the eligibility of an SME for the Power Up grant of €4,000 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45134/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I am very aware of the difficulties businesses continue to face due to rising costs.

As you know, I recently announced the Power Up Grant with a budget of €170 million as part of Budget 2025. The Power Up Grant builds on the success of the Increased Cost of Business Scheme. This grant is for businesses in the hospitality, retail and beauty sectors who received a second payment of the ICOB grant. Up to 39,000 of those businesses are now in line to receive a €4,000 Power Up Grant once they continue to meet the eligibility requirements.

In order to be eligible for the grant a business in the hospitality, retail and beauty sectors must have received the second ICOB grant. A small cohort of new businesses in those sectors that did not receive the second payment under ICOB may also be eligible for Power Up if they were trading in 2023 from a rateable premises but were unable to apply for ICOB as they did not have a 2023 commercial rates bill.

It is worth noting that I have also introduced a range of other supports that are aimed at assisting SMEs.

I introduced changes to the Local Enterprise Office Energy Efficiency Grant to make it more attractive to SMEs. The Energy Efficient Grant supports capital investment by businesses to reduce carbon emissions based on energy efficiency projects. The scheme supports businesses to reduce their carbon emissions and overall energy costs by accelerating the adoption of low carbon technologies or processes identified through a Green for Business, Green Start or SEAI Energy Audit. The grant now offers 75% of project costs, up to a maximum of €10,000. Applications are open since 12 July.

The LEO Digital for Business consultancy assists businesses in understanding digitalisation and its benefits, and developing a digital roadmap for the business, contributing to the overall target of basic digital intensity for small businesses. Digital for business is free with no cost to the applicant.

The Grow Digital Voucher was launched on 4th September. Under this new offer, the funding available has been increased to up to €5,000 and the eligibility criteria expanded to cover a wider range of digital interventions available to a broader range of businesses compared to the Trading Online Voucher.

I launched the National Enterprise Hub on 10 July 2024, it is a new all-of-government service, funded through my Department and operated by Enterprise Ireland. It is staffed by expertly trained advisors and is focused on helping businesses access a range of government supports.

There was a number of enterprise tax measures announced in Budget 2025 which will be of relevance to businesses. These include:

• Changes to the CGT Retirement Relief to support intergenerational transfers;
• Raising the VAT registration threshold to €85,000 for goods and €42,500 for services;
• Enhancements to the Small Company Start Up Relief;
• Increasing the Small Benefit Exemption Limit to €1,500, and the number of benefits allowable from 2 to 5 annually;
• A €125 increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit.