Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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392. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will review the operation and closure of the power up grant, particularly in cases where businesses (details supplied) were potentially misclassified and subsequently deemed ineligible for support; and if he will clarify the appeals process or lack thereof for business affected by these classifications. [26017/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The ICOB and Power Up grant schemes paid out over €400 million to SMEs across the country in 2024. The second ICOB payment and the Power Up grant specifically targeted businesses in the retail, hospitality and beauty sectors.

During the Power Up registration period the Department became aware of issues in relation to businesses who misclassified their business sector and were subsequently ineligible for the second ICOB payment and the Power Up grant.

In order to address this, the Government has 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.

The reopening of the scheme is solely for businesses in the retail, hospitality and beauty sectors who misclassified their business when applying for the Increased Cost of Business scheme. It will not reopen the ICOB and Power Up grant schemes for any other situation.

It is intended that this appeals process will open as soon as possible following discussions with the Local Authorities who administered both the ICOB and Power Up schemes on behalf of the Department.