The Government last week announced a roadmap for re-opening Ireland. Following the publication of the roadmap, they also announced a series of measures to support impacted businesses.
Here in Louth, some of these supports will be delivered by Louth County Council and its Local Enterprise Office.
Head of Enterprise at Louth County Council Thomas McEvoy explains: “Businesses across Louth have been impacted by the necessary restrictions imposed by Government. As the first port of call for business in the county, our immediate priority was to try to stabilise local companies and help them get through this phase. But now our focus turns to re-opening and a new set of measures are being rolled out to get business going again.”
Full details of the supports available to business are listed on: www.localenterprise.ie/response
The headline measure is a €250m Restart Fund that will help SMEs to get back on their feet with supports of up to €10,000. For larger companies, the Pandemic Stabilisation and Recovery Fund will make capital available on commercial terms. The Sustaining Enterprise Fund, managed by Enterprise Ireland, will support manufacturing and internationally traded services.
Rates are being waived for 3 months for commercial businesses in the hospitality, retail, leisure and childcare sectors, forced to close due to public health requirements. The waiver is effective from 27th March. Government will fund Local Authorities to make up for the waived rates, thus ensuring that full services are still delivered to the public.
Tax liabilities have also been “warehoused” with no enforcement action and no interest being levied for a 12 month period. This means that the tax is still due but businesses have an additional 12 months to submit the payment, which should aid cashflow.
These measures are in addition to the Business Continuity Voucher, the Trading Online Voucher, MicroFinance Ireland low interest loans, mentoring and online business training being provided by the Louth’s Local Enterprise Office.
Thomas concluded “Our message to business in Louth is simple. In these challenging times, supporting local business and jobs is now more important than ever. Whatever challenges your business is facing, email us at info@leo.louthcoco.ie or visit www.localenterprise.ie/louth. The team at the Local Enterprise Office are here to help and support.”
