Tipperary firms have only another week to apply for an Increased Cost of Business grant

Tipperary small and medium sized businesses have just one more week to apply for a one-off grant of up to €5,000 to assist them with meeting the increased costs of running their firm.

Tipperary County Council’s Head of Finance and IT Services Mark Connolly has reminded to businesses that Wednesday, May 1 is the deadline for submission of applications for the Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) grant.

He told the Council’s monthly meeting on April 8 that it had received about 800 applications for the grant but had written to approximately 4,500 rate payers about the scheme.

“We want to make sure everybody who qualifies for that grant gets it,” he said.

The €257m ICOB scheme, which is being administerd by local authorities, was introduced as part of the 2024 Budget.

This grant is intended as a one-time financial aid to help companies with increased costs associated with running a business and will be distributed to approved firms in the second quarter of this year.

The grant value for qualifying businesses is calculated based on the 2023 rates bill for their property.

Businesses with a 2023 rates bill for their property of up to €10,000 will receive a grant that equals half of their bill. For firms with a 2023 rates bill for their property ranging from €10,000 to €30,000, a fixed grant of €5,000 will be provided.

Businesses with a 2023 rates bill for their property over €30,000 do not qualify for this grant. The grant is not a waiver for commercial rates, and businesses are expected to continue paying their commercial rates as usual.

Mr Connolly was asked could businesses appeal a grant application rejection if their rates bill was a small amount over the qualification cut off. A case of a business that was €225 over the criteria was cited to him.

He responded that this was a national grants scheme and the Council could only work within the scheme’s criteria as advised by the Government.

He explained the Council was subject to audits in relation to its administration of such schemes and he asked: “If exceptions are made for a few hundred euros where does it stop?”

Carrick Cllr Kieran Bourke said he was dealing with two businesses who rented their premises and paid their commercial rates indirectly through the rent they paid to their landlord. He asked how could these businesses avail of the ICOB scheme?

Mr Connolly responded that the Council was liaising with the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment about this issue to get clarification. The decision on whether such businesses will qualify for grants will be made at a national level and the Council will have to abide by that.