The government will inject €14m into its Trading Online Voucher Scheme following unprecedented recent demand for the initiative, which is administered by the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) network.

LEOs reportedly received three years’ worth of applications for the voucher in three months following the outbreak of Covid-19 in Ireland.

Last week, Dublin City LEO said that it was refusing any new applications for the voucher and was cancelling the training sessions for online trading that were planned for June 10 and 25.

Under the Trading Online Voucher Scheme, small businesses can claim up to €5,000 in two grants worth €2,500 each to help them develop and e-commerce presence. The scheme also facilitates subscriptions to low-cost online retailing platform solutions to quickly establish a retailing presence online.

The voucher scheme will now be expanded by €14.2m. Following a previous expansion of the scheme in early April, total additional funding for it is now almost €20m so far this year.

In Association with

Business minister Heather Humphreys (pictured) said that in 2019 there were c.1,200 applications for the Trading Online Voucher Scheme. This year, between mid-March and early June, almost 4,000 applications were received through LEOs nationwide.

“The scheme is an essential part of our Covid-19 business supports for small businesses, and it is vital that we continue to make it available for enterprises to meet the ongoing trading challenges,” said Minister Humphreys.

“The ability to trade online has become more and more valuable as we move through the phases of re-opening the economy, particularly as we face into a period of reduced capacity on shop floors.

“Online sales have been a lifeline to many SMEs during Covid-19 and we have seen major success stories of small businesses actually increasing their sales during the pandemic due to their online platform. We want to make sure that continues.”

Included in the additional funding allocated for the Trading Online Voucher Scheme is an allocation of €600,000 in new money provided for Údarás na Gaeltachta to deliver the scheme in Gaeltacht areas.

The Trading Online Voucher Scheme is designed to assist small and microenterprises (10 or fewer employees) by offering financial assistance of up to €2,500 towards training and advice to help businesses trade online.

The support is available to cover 90% of the costs of an online initiative and recipients can claim up to €5,000 in two grants worth €2,500 each. For more details on the scheme, see here.