Written answers
Thursday, 29 May 2025
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Departmental Schemes
Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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321. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the funding provided for the trading online voucher in 2024 and 2025; the funding which was drawn down in 2024 and 2025 to date; the estimated cost for the State to provide 90% and 150% funding based on 2024 data, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28789/25]
Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Trading Online Voucher closed for new applications on 13th December 2024 and was replaced by the new Grow Digital Voucher, which was launched in September of 2024.
This new digital support has improved eligibility criteria including a wider range of digital supports available to a larger cohort of businesses, in comparison to the Trading Online Voucher. The funding available was increased to up to €5,000 and the Government contribution remains at 50%. Grow Digital is available to small businesses in all sectors with up to 50 employees - compared to the TOV which was only available to businesses with up to 10 employees and certain sectors were not eligible.
The 2024 data for the Trading Online Voucher is as follows:
| LEO Support | 2024 Allocation | 2024 Drawdown |
|---|---|---|
| Trading Online Voucher Scheme | €3,620,000 | €3,551,478 |
Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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322. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of businesses, broken down by each local authority area in the State, which registered for the increased cost of business grant by close of scheme, as a percentage of all eligible or estimated eligible businesses, to date, in tabular form. [28790/25]
Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) scheme and the Power Up grant paid out over €400 million to SMEs across the country in 2024.
The ICOB grant was divided into two payments and paid out a total of €244 million to SMEs during 2024. The second ICOB payment specifically targeted businesses in the retail, hospitality and beauty sectors.
The table below contains information in relation to the estimated number of businesses who were potentially eligible to claim the Increased Cost of Business Grant along with the numbers who registered for the grant.
| Local Authority | Estimate of Potentially Eligible Businesses | Registered businesses | Registered Businesses as a % of Estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlow County Council | 1,504 | 1,169 | 78 |
| Cavan County Council | 2,385 | 1,454 | 61 |
| Clare County Council | 3,474 | 2,528 | 73 |
| Cork County Council | 9,333 | 6,281 | 67 |
| Cork City Council | 6,404 | 4,424 | 69 |
| Donegal County Council | 4,449 | 2,893 | 65 |
| Dublin City Council | 16,246 | 8,779 | 54 |
| Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co Co | 4,369 | 2,809 | 64 |
| Fingal County Council | 5,310 | 3,262 | 61 |
| Galway City Council | 2,900 | 2,130 | 73 |
| Galway County Council | 4,251 | 2,240 | 53 |
| Kerry County Council | 3,880 | 2,848 | 73 |
| Kildare County Council | 4,083 | 3,288 | 81 |
| Kilkenny County Council | 2,521 | 1,705 | 68 |
| Laois County Council | 1,470 | 1,093 | 74 |
| Leitrim County Council | 991 | 551 | 56 |
| Limerick City And County Council | 4,466 | 4,078 | 91 |
| Longford County Council | 1,106 | 941 | 85 |
| Louth County Council | 3,393 | 2,534 | 75 |
| Mayo County Council | 3,372 | 2,815 | 83 |
| Meath County Council | 3,801 | 2,769 | 73 |
| Monaghan County Council | 1,702 | 1,476 | 87 |
| Offaly County Council | 1,707 | 1,200 | 70 |
| Roscommon County Council | 1,439 | 1,109 | 77 |
| Sligo County Council | 1,656 | 1,150 | 69 |
| South Dublin County Council | 6,210 | 3,761 | 61 |
| Tipperary County Council | 4,683 | 3,197 | 68 |
| Waterford City And County Council | 3,355 | 2,470 | 74 |
| Westmeath County Council | 2,206 | 1,637 | 74 |
| Wexford County Council | 4,417 | 2,964 | 67 |
| Wicklow County Council | 3,448 | 2,510 | 73 |
| Total | 120,531 | 82,065 | 68 |
Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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323. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of businesses, broken down by each local authority area in the State, which have registered for the increased cost of business grant by close of scheme, in tabular form. [28791/25]
Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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324. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of funding, broken down by each local authority area in the State, allocated to businesses that registered for the increased cost-of-business grant by close of scheme, in tabular form. [28792/25]
Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 323 and 324 together.
[Attachment omitted]
Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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325. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of businesses, broken down by each local authority area in the State, which have registered for the Power Up grant by close of scheme, in tabular form. [28793/25]
Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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326. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of funding, broken down by each local authority area in the State, allocated to businesses that registered for the Power Up grant by close of scheme, in tabular form. [28794/25]
Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 325 and 326 together.
The Increased Cost of Business scheme and the Power Up grant successfully paid out over €400 million to SMEs across the country in 2024.
The Power Up grant specifically targeted businesses in the hospitality, retail and beauty sectors and €158.7 million was paid in grants to over 39,000 businesses.
The attached table sets out the number of submissions received per local authority area, along with the numbers that were approved and ineligible. The table also sets out the amounts paid to businesses.
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