Supports for Business 2022

LOW COST LOANS STARTING UP AND GROWING A BUSINESS

A number of supported credit schemes are currently available to businesses coping with recent economic upheaval. They are available to the end of 2022 and application is being made to the EU to extend them further.

Credit Guarantee Scheme

A new Credit Guarantee Scheme of €1.2 billion will be launched early in 2023, lending to businesses with less than 500 employees. The scheme is available through participating lenders.

- Loans from €10,000 to a maximum of €1,000,000 per borrower [up to €250,000 unsecured]

- Terms of between 1 and 6 years

- Up to 12 months interest and / or capital moratoria are possible under the Scheme - these remain at the discretion of the participating finance provider

- Applicants must first be approved eligible by SBCI and then apply to participating lenders.

Future Growth Loan

A new €500m loan scheme will be launched early in 2023. It is for businesses employing less than 500 people, who plan a strategic long-term investment.

- Loans €25,000 to €3million (up to €500,000 unsecured) at favourable interest rates.

- Term 7 to 10 years

- Confined to investment, diversification, innovation, new products etc. with a particular emphasis on environmental sustainablity.

Initial approval from SBCI is required, and a business plan required over €250,000.

COVID 19 Loan Scheme The Covid-19 Loan Scheme is available to SMEs liquidity/working capital; investment; up to 30% of new loans may be allowed for refinancing of existing short term credit. The scheme is available through participating lenders. Loans under the scheme

- Range from €25,000 to €1.5 million at favourable interest

- Are available to terms of 1 to 6 years

- Are available without security where the loan amount is less than €500,000 Microfinance Ireland offers alternatives to banks for businesses that employ less than 10 people. Their general loan terms are:

- Loan no more than €25,000

- Interest rate 5.5% (APR)

- Fixed repayments with no penalty for early repayment.

- Maximum term 3 years

For businesses who have been impacted by Brexit or Covid (ie. likely to reduce turnover by 15%) a six month interest period is also offered and a lower 4.5% APR if referred by your Local Enterprise Office. They also have an Expansion Loan which allows loans of up to 5 years for businesses who have been in operation for at least 18 months.

Credit Review

A small business can appeal the refusal of credit up to €3 million by certain banks to the Credit Review Office, provided they have already used the internal review procedure of the bank. Over 80% of bank refusals have been reversed through this process.

GOING DIGITAL

E-merge

The E-Merge programme provides £2,500/€2,800 fully-funded consultancy support to help businesses develop online sales and eCommerce solutions. It is available to companies with less than 250 staff operating in either the manufacturing or tradeable services sectors. Apply through intertradeireland.com

Trading Online Voucher Scheme

The Trading Online Voucher Scheme is designed to assist small businesses with up to 10 employees to trade more online, boost sales and reach new markets. It offers financial assistance of up to €2,500 with co-funding of 50% from the business along with training and advice to help your business trade online. The vouchers are targeted at businesses with the following profile:

- Limited or no e-commerce presence;

- 10 or less employees;

- Turnover less than €2m;

- Applicant business must be trading for at least 6 months

- Business must be located in the area covered by the LEO to whom they make their application i.e. LEOs cannot accept applications from businesses located outside their jurisdiction.

Online Retail Scheme

The purpose of this competitive fund is to enable Irish-owned retailers to enhance their digital capability and to develop a more competitive online offer that will enable an increase in their customer base and build a more resilient business in the domestic and global marketplace, both online and offline. It offers successful applicants a grant ranging from €10,000 to a maximum of €40,000 - covering up to 80% of project costs. Current criteria include employing at least 10 employees on a full-time equivalent basis on or before 29 February 2020 or has grown to that level since then. It is intended to introduce a new round of the Online Retail Scheme in 2022.

Digitalisation Voucher – Enterprise Ireland

This is available to companies to access independent technical or advisory services supports related to the current and future operations of your business. The voucher covers services from an approved service provider up to a value of €9,000. A maximum daily rate of €900 per day applies. It is open to companies that operate within the manufacturing or internationally traded service sectors who employed 10 or more full time people on their payroll on the 29th of February 2020 or employed 10 fulltime staff at the time of application. Companies must have suffered, or be projected to suffer, a 15 per cent or more reduction in actual or projected turnover or profit or have had a significant increase in operational costs as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Local Enterprise Office: Each Local Enterprise Office provides a First Stop Shop for all enterprise supports in every county and also provides the business support service of the local authority. Each LEO offers direct access to mentoring, microfinance, grants (where appropriate) and seamless access to the wider range of Enterprise Ireland support for high potential enterprises. Visit www.localenterprise.ie

Their range of grants include: feasibility (50% up to a max €15,000) to assess a business idea; StartUp or expansion (50% up to a max of €80,000 or €150,000); and support for training or consultancy to support building the capacity of the business or for lean transformation; and innovation vouchers.

The LEOs’ Mentor Programme matches up the knowledge, skills, insights and entrepreneurial capability of experienced business practitioners with small business owner/ managers who need practical and strategic one-to-one advice and guidance. The mentor contributes independent, informed observation and advice to aid decision making. All applications for mentor assistance are dealt with individually and are preceded by a business needs analysis to assess the needs of the business and determine the most imperative mentoring objectives.

Competitive Start Funding: the Enterprise Ireland Competitive Start Fund holds regular calls. This fund offers early stage enterprises with significant potential the opportunity to compete for an investment of €50,000 towards the start up and market-launch process. Successful starts can graduate to the additional supports available for “High Potential Start-Ups”, for 10% ordinary share.

Back to Work Enterprise Allowance

This scheme offers support for people who are long-term unemployed and who are interested in selfemployment as a route to entering the labour market. It is payable to self-employed individuals for a 24-month period from the commencement of their new business. All eligible participants will receive their full period of entitlement of 24 months. This includes anyone who contacted the Department of Social Protection to temporarily suspend their allowance while their business closed during the pandemic. This grant offers up to €2,500 over the first two years of a new business and assists with the early business start-up costs.

Short Term Enterprise Allowance: The Short-Term Enterprise Allowance (STEA) gives support to people who have lost their job and want to start their own business. It is paid instead of Jobseeker’s Benefit for a maximum of 1 year. It ends when the entitlement to Jobseeker’s Benefit ends (that is, at either 9 months or 12 months).

Enterprise Ireland works with Irish businesses who have the potential to export to export to start and scale their business, to build critical capabilities, to penetrate export markets and to meet the new challenges impacting upon businesses.

It provides a large suite of supports and tailors them to the individual needs of your business. It nurtures startups with high potential. It helps drive transformational change: digital, lean, low carbon, product innovation. It showcases Irish design, products and services. It helps on the journey of exporting from first steps to sophisticated partnerships and to manage the disruption from Brexit.

Cllr Declan Flanagan 087 2595544 • declan.flanagan@dublincity.ie;

Cllr Aoibhinn Tormey 087 4267176 • aoibhinn.tormey@cllrs.fingal.ie

STANDING UP FOR BUSINESS

2023

Businesses face an uncertain future on many fronts. Despite the range of threats facing our economy, many parties in the Dáil take the success created by Ireland’s enterprise sector for granted. History has shown what a mistake that can be. Many good businesses created and nurtured over many years, have been destroyed by policy errors for which they were not responsible, this must not happen again. It is vital that we nurture start-ups, create a good environment for businesses to grow, and ensure that success in enterprise is fairly rewarded.

Cllr Naoise Ó Muirí 086 8270408 • campaign@naoise.ie

Cllr Anthony Lavin 087 9931329 • anthony.lavin@cllrs.fingal.ie

Small Company Rescue

Cllr Terence Flanagan 087 9952031 • terenceflanagan34@gmail.com

Frances FITZGERALD MEP frances.fitzgerald@europarl.europa.ie

Other important bodies which can help with the specialist needs of business are Knowledge Transfer Ireland to commercialise Irish research, National Standards Authority of Ireland to develop new product standards, Inter Trade Ireland to assist cross border trade, the Employment Permits Unit to allow you to recruit talent you cannot find in the European Union Tax Relief for Start-Up - see under the Tax Section, inside this leaflet.

An “administrative rescue process” SCARP is now in operation which allows small companies [no more than 50 employees, than €14m turnover or than €6m balance sheet] to continue trading while an Insolvency Practitioner appointed by the company works out a solution to debt problems or to amend leases. The aim is to complete a work out within 70 days.

To participate the company needs to prepare a statement of affairs, have the IP report that a reasonable prospect of survival of a resolution is worked out. Over a 42 day period, creditors will be consulted and they vote within 7 days of a Rescue Plan being presented. The proposition must get majority support, but a rejection can be referred to court.

YOUR FINE GAEL TEAM IN DUBLIN SOUTH WEST

I hope that this summary of important measures to support businesses

COLM BROPHY TD

Dáil Éireann, Leinster House,

Tax Warehousing

TAXATION GOING GREEN

The period during which tax debts could be warehoused ended 30 April 2022 and tax debts can then be ‘parked’ interest-free until 30 April 2024. At that point the warehoused debt may be paid in full without incurring an interest charge or can be paid through a tailored phased payment arrangement at a significantly reduced interest rate of 3% per annum. This compares to the standard rate of 8% or 10% per annum that would otherwise apply to such debts. Any tailored phased payment arrangement will take account of the taxpayer’s particular financial circumstances and can be extended over a longer timeframe as required provided current liabilities continue to be paid as they fall due.

Temporary Reduction VAT / Excises

The VAT rate for the tourism and hospitality sector was reduced from 13.5% to 9% in November 2020 and this has been extended to end Feb 2023. The Excise Reductions on Motor Fuels have been extended to Feb 2023.

Remote Working Relief

An employer can pay up to €3.20/day free of all tax to e-workers, and Benefit In Kind does not apply to employer-provided equipment or broadband services. In addition, an e-worker can claim Tax Relief at their top rate on 30% of vouched expenses on heat, light, broadband for those days spent working from home.

Employment Investment Incentive Scheme

The EIIS aims to incentivise private investors to make equity investments in qualifying Irish SME companies. Investors can obtain tax relief of up to 40% to a maximum of €250,000 or in shares of a company or in Designated Investment Funds which are held for 4 years or more, or €500,000 held for 7 years or more.

- Investors will be able to access the income tax relief at the time of making the EIIS investment.

- Companies can raise up to €5m per year, up to €15m under the scheme. Start-Up Capital Incentive is a similar relief to EIIS but is for family members of shareholders to invest in shares in a company to carry on a brand new venture. The shares must be held for 4 years. The maximum a company can raise is €500,000.

Start Up Refund for Entrepreneurs (SURE)

If you are a PAYE worker and start up and work full-time in your own company, you can get tax relief on the capital you invest in the equity of the company. The relief is a refund of the income tax you paid on an equal amount of income in any of the previous six years, but if this does not give full relief on your investment the relief can be claimed in later years. The maximum investment on which relief can be claimed is €700,000 in a claim, but two claims can be made.

Three Year Corporate Tax Exemption: New Companies get relief from Corporate Tax for each of the first five years. The relief is equivalent to the PRSI you paid for employees up to a maximum of €5,000 per employee and €40,000 overall. However the relief is curtailed if the Corporation Tax due exceeds €40,000 and does not apply over €60,000.

Entrepreneurial Relief from Capital Grants

Entrepreneurs who worked in a company for three years can get relief on up to €1 million on gains from the disposal of qualifying business assets. The relief involved applying a lower 10% rate to these gains.

Research and Development

Expenditure on research and development is not only an allowable expense against taxation, but also qualifies for a 25% credit against corporation tax.

Accelerated Capital Allowances allow businesses to reduce your taxable profits by the full level of expenditure on energy efficient equipment in the year the investment is made. More information is available on Revenue.ie

Budget 2023

Employers can give up to €1,000 in non-cash benefits under a Small Benefit Exemption from PRSI, USC and Income Tax to their workers in a single payment or in two tranches. This can be paid in 2022 and 2023.

In Budget 2023, a number of targeted Reliefs for business have been extended -

- Knowledge Development Box for 4 years to end 2026 (but the 6.25% rate will increase during the period)

- Key Employee Engagement Programme to end 2025

- Special Assignee Relief Programme to end 2025 with a higher qualifying income of €100,000

- Foreign Earnings Deduction for staff placed in export markets temporarily to end 2025.

Green for Micro

This is a free-of-charge programme run by the Local Enterprise Office, available to companies with up to 10 employees. Two days of mentoring with a specialist Green Consultant is available, including recommendations on specific changes which your business can implement. The consultant will prepare a detailed Green for Micro Report on your business. It is particularly suited to businesses in construction and the built environment, retail, manufacturing, textiles and fashion, food, electronics, plastics, and packaging. In 2023, this scheme will be strengthened with grants for measures to cut emissions and energy costs

Climate Toolkit 4 Business

A new dedicated website climatetoolkit4business.gov.ie allows businesses to input some simple information and get an estimate of your carbon footprint and a personalised plan to reduce it.

Energy Audit

Your business may be eligible for a €2,000 voucher towards the cost of a professional energy audit. An energy audit can be useful for businesses to save money and energy. An energy audit may be carried out on buildings, processes, or systems and it is a three-step process which involves preparation, a site visit and reporting. The audit report that compiles the findings will help you to understand:

• how much energy your business uses

• the equipment and processes that use the most energy

• what actions you should take to save energy, and their estimated cost and impact Find out more and apply through SEAI.

EXEED Certified grant

SEAI provides grant support for projects which are following the EXEED Certified standard for Excellence in Energy Efficient Design. Small companies can receive up to a 70% grant for pre-investment professional services to implement EXEED processes and up to a 50% grant for eligible expenditure to implement EXEED processes.

Support Scheme for Renewable Heat

This grant scheme is designed to promote the adoption of renewable heating systems by commercial, industrial and agricultural users not covered by the emissions trading system. The Scheme will support an installation grant and/or on-going operational support. The installation grant provides funding of up to 30%. Find out more and apply through SEAI.

Electric Vehicles

SEAI provides grant supports towards the purchase of new N1 category electric vehicles for business. N1 category vehicles are typically small goods carrying vans with a technically permissible maximum mass not exceeding 3500kg. A maximum grant of €3,800 is available for qualifying N1 category EVs when purchased commercially. Approved EVs with a list price of less than €14,000 will not receive a grant. This grant applies to new vehicles only.

Ukraine Crisis

Exporting Companies who have suffered a 15% decrease in operating surplus, whose unit gas/ electricity has more than doubled in 2022 compared to 2021 and spend more than 3% of turnover on energy can get support of up to 30% of the costs in excess of doubling up to a maximum of €2million In a second stream of aid, up to €500,000 is available where the company is experiencing trading difficulties as a result of the Ukraine War, and must have an energy efficiency and a sustainability plan. These schemes are administered by EI and IDA. Other investment aid may be available for a Sustainability Project Plan.

Temporary Energy Support will apply to trades or professions where the unit price of the energy bill has increased by more than 50%, and will provide support equivalent to 40% of the amount of the increase in the total bill up to a maximum €10,000 per month per business unit, subject to a max of €30,000 per month for a qualifying business. Payment will be backdated to September and run until February. It will be operated by the Revenue Commissioners.

SBCI has also launched a loan specially for investing in energy saving equipment in amounts €10,000 to €150,000 at very competitive rates available through the banks.

Solar Grant

SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland) offer a grant up to €2,400 for the installation of solar panels, (€900 for 1kW capacity, €1,800 for 2kW, €2,100 for 3kW and €2,400 for 4 - 6kW). Such installations can earn payments for surplus going back to the grid. For new installations of over 6kW - 50kW a payment for power exported to the grid over 15 years is being developed by CRU.

APPRENTICESHIPS AND TRAINEESHIPS

Apprenticeships

You can apply to be approved as a national apprenticeship employer. There are now 68 distinct areas of apprenticeship and 18 more in development. They cover a range of apprenticeship options in the traditional craft trades but now there are also apprenticeships in finance, insurance, hospitality, ICT, sales, biopharma, logistics, hairdressing, to mention just a few. A payment to employers of €2,000 per apprentice per year is available for the new apprenticeships (which are not eligible for the payment of off-the-job training allowances). It is paid two tranches in June & December. An additional payment of €2666 is payable for the minority gender in apprenticeships with more than 80% of one gender. Apprentices vacancies can be advertised on apprenticeship.ie which is now being linked to the CAO. See apprenticeship.ie

Traineeships

A traineeship combines learning in the classroom and experience in the workplace to improve employment outcomes for participants and increase retention and productivity in the sector. Traineeships can give employers access to a pipeline of learners who are developing cutting edge skills and gaining on-the-job experience in relevant sectors. Over 75 programmes are available nationally in a range of industries.

As a partner employer, you can help shape future traineeship courses by identifying skills needs and contributing to the design and content of the programme. To find out more about becoming a partner employer with your local ETB, contact the Further Education and Training Director at your local ETB (Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ETB, ddletb.ie, 01 4529600) or the Dublin Regional Skills Forum (connect.regionalskills.ie/dublin).

Work Experience

An employer can take on a person who has been six months on the Live Register for Work Experience for 30 hours per week provided there has been no displacement. The weekly payment of €311 will be met entirely by the Department of Social Protection.

JobsPlus

JobsPlus is a subsidy paid to employers who recruit long-term unemployed people for new positions in their workplace. Employers can avail of JobsPlus when filling new positions or positions that arise as a consequence of natural turnover. The subsidy is €7,500 paid over 24 months for a person aged under 30, who has been unemployed for 4 months in the past 6 and for aged 30-50 who have been unemployed 12 in the past 18 months. A higher subsidy of €10,000 for those over 50 or under 50 who have been unemployed for 3 years. Jobs must be at least 30 hours.

Wage Subsidy Scheme provides financial incentives to employers, outside the public sector, to employ disabled people who work more than 20 hours a week. A person on the Wage Subsidy Scheme is subject to the same conditions of employment as the other employees. These conditions include PRSI contributions, annual leave, tax deductions and the going rate for the job.

Springboard offers the employer an opportunity to be involved in placement of persons reskilling in areas of demand. Each year over ten thousand places for part-time flexible courses are offered in areas of skill shortage, digital skills, finance, engineering, manufacturing, construction, over 300 options. It offers the opportunity to upskill existing staff or offer placement to participants with an eye to recruitment.

Skillnet is a service to businesses to support all types of training needs, with typically half of the cost covered by the State. There are a range of programme options or networks can be informed to develop a bespoke programme. There are mentoring programmes for owner managers to build capacity and specific training to upskill for challenges like climate, digital and logistics across a wide range of sectors.

Opportunities to train up staff continue to expand in Budget 2023 with 4,800 new apprenticeship places, 12,500 Skillnet Places (climate, digital, market adaptation) and 14,000 places at third level which are 90% subsidised for existing employees.

* Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided in this guide, it is best to consult directly with relevant organisations and/or their websites for the most up-to-date information.

This guide is not a complete list of subsidies, grants, vouchers, funds and loans available. Please contact organisations directly for a full list.