Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 January 2025
449. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he plans to re-open the Power Up grant to applications from beauty salons; if so, if issues with the terms (details supplied) will be addressed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1715/25]
View answerFollowing an extension to the original deadline, the Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) scheme closed on 29th May 2024. The Power Up grant closed on 22nd November 2024 also following an extension to the original deadline. In total, over €400 million was paid out to small businesses under these schemes in 2024.
In order to get payments to businesses as quickly as possible by the end of 2024, the Power Up grant was aligned with the ICOB scheme and a business must have received the second ICOB payment, which was open to the beauty sector, to be eligible for the Power Up grant.
My Department is aware of issues that arose 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.
