Written answers
Thursday, 17 July 2025
Department of Finance
Employment Schemes
Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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231. To ask the Minister for Finance the cost to the Exchequer of the Employment Investment Incentive in 2025 and 2026. [40522/25]
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Employment Investment Incentive (EII), is provided for under Part 16 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 which also provides for the Start-Up Capital Incentive and Start-Up Relief for Entrepreneurs. EII helps to provide SMEs and start-ups with alternative funding sources. The EII was extended as part of Budget 2025 for another two years to 31 December 2026.
I am advised by Revenue that the most recent year for which costs, and numbers benefitting, are available is 2023. Revenue have also provided these details for 2020 – 2022 inclusive as follows:
| Year | Total Exchequer Cost (€m) | Total amount invested (€m) | Number of companies benefitting | Number of Individual Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 56.8 | 141.9 | 195 | 3,323 |
| 2022 | 52.5 | 122.3 | 161 | 3,195 |
| 2021 | 43.8 | 107.1 | 167 | 3,133 |
| 2020 | 32.6 | 84.2 | 126 | 2,196 |
In terms of anticipating future costs, it is not possible to provide an accurate estimate as there a broad range of variables, including future investment behaviour, that cannot be fully accounted for.
However, for the purposes of Budget 2025, the aggregate cost of extending the Part 16 reliefs, which includes EII, was estimated to be €44 million for a full year. This figure took into account certain factors including recent yearly Exchequer cost data and the anticipated impact of the changes to the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) which took effect from 1 January 2024.
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