William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)
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212. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will reopen the increased cost of business grant scheme, as a vital measure for small and medium businesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21932/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Increased Cost of Business scheme was introduced in March 2024 and the Power Up grant was introduced in October 2024. Both schemes are now closed, however, in total, €400 million in grant aid was successfully paid to SMEs right across the country in 2024 under these grants.

My Department is aware of issues that have arisen during the registration period, in relation to businesses that were ineligible for the grant due to incorrect classification of their business type while registering for ICOB.

In order to address this, the Government this week approved an appeals process that will give those businesses in the retail, hospitality and beauty sectors that were not eligible for ICOB and the Power Up grant because of the misclassification issue, an opportunity to register for those grants.

This is not a re-opening of those grant schemes, rather this is designed to allow those who originally misclassified their business sector an opportunity to register for the grants.

It is intended to open the appeals process as soon as possible following discussions with the local authorities who previously administered both the ICOB and Power Up grant schemes on behalf of my Department.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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213. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if additional financial support will be made available to local authorities and community groups to develop enterprise centres or work spaces, taking in to account the importance of such facilities in assisting job creation, particularly in smaller towns and villages; if he is aware of the substantial costs on local authorities and community groups in developing such centres at present, which impacts severely on councils with a low rates base; if his Department and the statutory agencies under the remit of his Department will give this request further urgent consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22005/25]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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214. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if, in view of the importance of developing enterprise centres and work spaces, a new scheme of grant-aid will be introduced to assist local authorities and community groups with such developments, taking into account the importance of such work spaces for the economy in all regions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22006/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 213 and 214 together.

Balanced regional enterprise development remains a key focus for my Department and for the Government, as affirmed in the White Paper on Enterprise. I very much appreciate the contribution made by enterprise and remote working hubs throughout the country. These facilities allow people to live and work in their local communities and provide vital services to support entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs. We have invested significantly in the development of these facilities, and we remain committed to further support for the sector.

Substantial funding has been provided by the Department of Rural and Community Development towards the development of remote working facilities. Successful projects are developed in collaboration with local authorities and communities with many vacant and derelict buildings renovated to include remote working facilities through programmes such as the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, LEADER and the Town and Village Renewal Scheme. In addition, the Connected Hubs Call provided funding of €14 million to almost 200 projects between 2021 and 2022, enabling successful applicants to add additional capacity to existing infrastructure in remote working hubs throughout the country.

My Department and the Department of Rural and Community Development are continuing to work together to develop the first strategy for the National Hub Network, following consultation with key stakeholders. I expect the draft strategy to be brought to Government in this quarter.

The Deputy will be aware that, since 2017, my Department has allocated more than €150 million to support regional enterprise development initiatives, including many enterprise centres and hubs, across the country through Enterprise Ireland’s schemes, such as the Regional Enterprise Development Fund and the Border Enterprise Development Fund.

The Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme, co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund and administered by Enterprise Ireland, is currently open for applications. The scheme includes four streams ranging from delivery of major local enterprise infrastructure such as building enterprise hubs to funding for services delivered to SMEs to drive innovation and enhance their competitiveness. While they are independent, the Government will work collaboratively with the local authorities to deliver innovative projects. The local authorities have supported many of the enterprise hubs delivered to date, as project partners or through direct funding contributions.

The point made by the Deputy relating to the financial capacity of different local authorities has been raised with my Department and is worth considering. The Deputy may be aware that the Smart Regions scheme has an element of funding ring-fenced for the Northern and Western region, specifically targeted at improving opportunities and facilities in this area.

My Department does not have plans to introduce another regional enterprise development scheme at this time, given the Smart Regions scheme is in place. I expect, however, that funding of enterprise hubs will be kept under review as we consider future approaches to regional enterprise development. An independent review of the Regional Enterprise Plan initiative is currently under way and I know the local authorities are providing feedback on key issues as part of that review, including the availability of funding.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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215. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will outline the grant aid available through his Department in Enterprise Ireland for the development of community enterprise centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22007/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Enterprise Ireland, as an agency of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, has historically provided grant aid to support the development and sustainability of community enterprise centres across Ireland. These centres play a pivotal role in fostering entrepreneurship, offering workspace, mentoring and networking opportunities to entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses.

In 2020 a €12 million Enterprise Centres Fund was launched in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This was followed by an additional €8.24 million in November 2020. This funding aimed to assist both not-for-profit and for-profit enterprise centres that experienced significant income reductions due to the pandemic. Grants ranging from €10,000 to €150,000 were provided to help centres implement recovery plans over a 6 to 12-month period.

The development and support of community enterprise centres has been significantly bolstered by the Regional Enterprise Development Fund and Border Enterprise Development Fund, administered by Enterprise Ireland. Since 2017, Enterprise Ireland has approved €126 million in funding for these schemes to support 79 innovative enterprise projects across the country. This funding aims to drive job creation and enterprise development in each region throughout Ireland.

The current funding initiative, the Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme, administered by Enterprise Ireland and co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund, includes four streams ranging from delivery of major local enterprise infrastructure, such as building enterprise hubs, to funding for services delivered to SMEs to drive innovation and enhance their competitiveness. This scheme offers support from €50,000 towards feasibility costs, up to €10 million for local infrastructure towards enterprise support projects.