The government has provided €400m in grant support to small businesses this year through the Power Up and Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) schemes.

The schemes were designed by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and administered by the local authorities with the aim of helping firm with increased costs associated with running a business.

The Power Up Grant was announced as part of Budget 2025, and More than €154m has been paid to 38,500 businesses since applications closed on 22 November.

The ICOB scheme paid €244m during the summer to over 75,000 businesses, including a double payment for businesses in the retail, hospitality and beauty sectors.

“The Increased Cost of Business scheme and the Power Up grant have been hugely successful this year. My Department has paid out just under €400m this year alone to businesses in need across the country," said Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Peter Burke.

"This is a significant amount of money that has been directly targeted at SMEs and has benefitted thousands of small, family-run businesses. This shows that Government is listening to business and is very aware of the difficulties being faced by business owners.

"I want to particularly thank Local Authorities all over the country for their hard work in administering both schemes and getting this vital support to businesses in an efficient and timely manner.”

Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail Emer Higgins added: “I know the challenges that businesses continue to face and that is why the Department has focused on getting payments to businesses as quickly as possible. 

"I have met and listened to retailers across the country, heard about the challenges that they face, and the success of both of these grant schemes goes some way to assist these businesses in tackling rising costs.”

Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital Transformation and Company Regulation Dara Calleary commented: “Getting supports to businesses across the country this year was a priority for the Department and I am delighted at the success of both of these schemes, and that we were able to pay out such a significant sum directly into the bank accounts of our small and medium sized businesses, especially in the face of rising costs and in the run up to the Christmas trading period.”

(Pic: Getty Images)