Scheme Overview
The COVID-19 Micro-Enterprise Assistance Scheme is to provide a grant of a minimum of €500 to a maximum €1,000 in respect of vouched expenditure contribution towards the cost of reopening or keeping a business operational and re-connecting with employees and customers.
Eligibility Criteria
This fund is open to operating businesses who:
- Have suffered a 30% reduction in turnover due to COVID-19 restrictions or downturn in trade provided they commit to remaining open and to hiring and sustaining employment; provided they commit to remaining open and to hiring and sustaining employment
- Employed between 2 and 10 full-time employees (or full-time equivalents) on their payroll on 29th February 2020
- Have an annual turnover of less than €2 million as per the latest set of annual accounts
- Are not eligible for the COVID-19 Restart/Restart Plus Grant or similar COVID-19 business restart grants from other government departments. A non-exhaustive list of COVID-19 business restart grants from other government departments include the Fáilte Ireland Adaptation Fund, Department of Children and Youth Affairs Childminding Re-opening Grant, Department Employment Affairs and Social Protection Enterprise Support Grant COVID-19 support for Micro-Enterprises, The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Live Performance Support Scheme.
Ineligible sectors
- Businesses in the primary agricultural, fishery or aquaculture, coal and steel sectors
- Or involved in activities that the Local Enterprise Offices consider as ineligible or as involving an unacceptable reputational risk: gambling including ‘gaming’ (as defined in the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956), adult entertainment, tobacco products and cannabis-based products which are not authorised as medicines);
- Non-commercial organisations such as community, charity, arts and sporting (including charity shops and community and sporting premises with a bar).
Eligible Expenditure
- Adaptation and reconfiguration costs of buildings and room layouts to allow for physical distancing and safe working. Examples of eligible items include internal and external signage, queuing system materials, screens and barriers, sanitiser stations, sinks, waste disposal areas.
- COVID-19 related consumables such as personal protective equipment, sterilisation equipment, additional cleaning equipment, waste disposal equipment, paper towel dispenser
The grant will be based on vouched expenditure net of VAT incurred from 14th September 2020 to 30th October 2020
As a condition of the funding for either of these strands, grantees are required to retain evidence of eligible expenditure in the form of invoices/receipts for 7 years to facilitate spot-checks and sample audits, and for State aid purposes.
Application Process
To apply for the Micro-eEnterprise Assistance please fill in the Micro-Enterprise Assistance Application Form and we will get back to you with the final decision.
