Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 May 2026
528. Deputy John Clendennen asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the number of public houses, broken down by county, that applied for and were granted Increased Cost of Business and Power Grants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35275/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) and Power Up Grant paid out over €415 million to SMEs across the country in 2024 and 2025. The Local Authorities administered both grant schemes on behalf of this Department. Both grant schemes are now closed.
ICOB (first and second payment) paid out a total of €244 million in 2024 to 75,000 SMEs across the country. Power Up paid out a total of €159 million in 2024 to almost 40,000 SMEs across the country.
Both grant schemes required a self declaration from the business owners as to their business sector category. The categories of businesses were determined by the NACE codes. The NACE Codes are a European classification system that assigns organisations according to their business activities.
There was not a standalone category for public houses, the sectoral category that would include public houses is titled Accommodation and Food services, therefore, it is not possible to determine the specific number of public houses only that applied and received the grants.
For your information under ICOB sectoral category Accommodation and Food Services 12,677 businesses made an application and grants were paid to 11,725.
Under Power Up sectoral category Accommodation and Food Services 11,216 businesses made an application and grants were paid to 11,105.
Under the ICOB and Power Up Reclassification sectoral category Accommodation and Food Services 2,364 made an application and grants were paid to 1,358.
The list of recipients of these grants per county are published on each Local Authority website.
