Almost 2,000 Tipperary businesses approved for game-changing business grant

Following on from a question in Dáil Éireann last month from Deputy Ryan O’Meara regarding how many Tipperary businesses had applied for and received the Power Up grant, the Minister for Enterprise; Trade and Employment has confirmed the figures.

In Tipperary, 1,847 businesses registered for the Power Up grant, 1,803 businesses were approved to the value of €7.2 million.

In total, the Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) and Power Up grant schemes paid out a very significant sum totalling over €400 million to support SMEs right across the country.

This total of €400 million included €154 million in the first phase of ICOB, €90 million in the second phase of ICOB, and €158 million through the Power Up scheme.

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The take up rate for ICOB was very significant, with 68% of estimated eligible businesses registering for the grant.

In order to get payments to businesses before the end of 2024, the Power Up grant was aligned with the ICOB scheme and a business must have received the second ICOB grant and be in the hospitality, retail and beauty sectors in order to receive the Power Up grant.

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

The Department is currently reviewing the issues that have arisen and will consider next steps in consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and the local authorities.”

The Power Up grant was announced by Government in Budget 2025. It has an overall budget of €170 million to provide a €4,000 grant payment to eligible SMEs in the hospitality, retail and beauty sectors.