Government here for impacted Dublin business

€30 million extra grant aid for business in the capital.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar TD announced a package on Friday, 18th September for Dublin business, following on from the decision to move to Phase 3 in the county to save lives and protect our most vulnerable.

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Tánaiste Leo Varadkar TD said "As the Minister responsible for enterprise and employment, I know how devastating today’s news is for the business owners of Dublin and their staff. Trust that we did not take this decision lightly. I know this is a second closure for some and continued closure for others. The public health advice is overwhelming. We must stop the virus in its tracks now in order to protect our most vulnerable and make sure our health service doesn’t get overwhelmed."

Actions today include:

• Topped up Restart Grant Plus
• Dublin businesses impacted by 25% or more fall in turnover will now be entitled to a 30% top-up, bringing the new minimum for affected counties to €5,200 and the new maximum to €32,500. Those that applied and received a grant previously, can receive the top up of 30%.

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• Increased Agency Support
• Applications from Dublin will be prioritised for the wide range of existing loan and voucher schemes available to assist businesses affected by COVID-19 through the July Jobs Stimulus and other government initiatives. This includes the LEO Trading Online Vouchers, MicroFinance Ireland COVID-19 Loan Fund and access to liquidity and investment finance schemes.

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• Promotional Campaign
• The Dublin Local Enterprise Offices, in conjunction with local Chambers of Commerce and other business representative groups, will undertake an awareness, media and promotional campaign to let businesses know what grants, mentorship and low-cost loans are available to them. A dedicated helpline will be established to help companies access relevant enterprise supports.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar TD said "This package is about providing more help to the businesses affected to manage what is an extremely difficult situation. Over the next three weeks, the topped-up Restart Grant will help sustain business to reopen in three weeks. Applications from Dublin will be prioritised under all existing schemes. These interventions which come in addition to what is already available will make a difference over the next difficult weeks. The Budget will be our next opportunity to see what we can do for business and we will look at what further actions are required to help those worst affected."

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath TD said "The measures we’re announcing now are additional supports to add to the pillars already in place, such as the wage and income supports, grants, liquidity, tax measures and rates waivers. At different times, additional supports have been introduced for particular regions or sectors in response to the economic hardship brought on by additional COVID-19 restrictions. I acknowledge that this is an extremely difficult time for those business owners, employees and households that will be directly affected by today’s decision."

NOTES

• More information on the business supports is available here.
• There is an existing package in place to help businesses nationally reopen and stay open, through the July Stimulus.

​The government is:

• extending the Wage Subsidy Scheme to the end of March 2021, supporting viable businesses and jobs, including new hires
• giving companies extra assistance to reopen and stay open through an enhanced Restart Grant available to more firms
• providing more and cheaper loan finance through Microfinance Ireland and the Credit Guarantee Scheme
• providing funding to help businesses get ready for Brexit
• exploiting opportunities in areas like Life Sciences and investing in decarbonisation and digitalisation
• putting in place a six-month reduction in the VAT, going down from 23% to 21%
• providing more funding for the IDA to promote Ireland as a place for foreign direct investment
• supporting small businesses (under 10 employees), who are ineligible for other grants through the Micro-Enterprise Assistance Fund