Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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12. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of businesses in counties Longford, Westmeath, Offaly and Laois that registered for the increased cost of business grant; the value of the payments for businesses in each county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30007/24]

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister give some indication as to the number of business in counties Longford, Westmeath, Offaly and Laois that have registered for the increased cost of business grant and the value of the payments for the businesses in each county?

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I might reduce the Deputy's time on this, as he got an extra minute for his previous question, to let in another speaker.

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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That is okay.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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We will co-operate.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his question. The increased cost of business scheme was announced in budget 2024. It has been allocated €257 million and is specifically designed to target smaller businesses. It was initially opened for registrations between 14 March and 1 May. However, on 15 May, I announced two changes to the scheme as part of the wider SME package. First, registration was opened for an additional two weeks to allow businesses another chance to sign up for the grant and, second, those businesses operating in the hospitality and retail sectors that qualify for an increased cost of business grant will receive a double or second payment under the scheme. Overall, 72,576 registrations have been made, representing 81,366 businesses, or two thirds of the potentially eligible businesses.

Turning to the specific local authorities highlighted by the Deputy, in County Longford, 939 businesses have registered for the grant and €1.287 million has been paid out to those businesses. In County Westmeath, 1,627 businesses have registered and €4,485,309 has been paid out. In County Offaly, 1,192 business properties have registered and €1,959,301 has been paid out to those businesses. In County Laois, 1,075 business properties have registered and €1,581,247 has been paid out.

All local authorities are doing everything to ensure payments to qualifying businesses are made as quickly as possible. The second round has now commenced. I will point out that Longford County Council has been exceptional in paying out the grant. Its chief executive, Paddy Mahon, and his team, including John McKeon, have been great. They got the money out to businesses very quickly. It is so vital that they get it when the Government has put that money on the table for them.

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I share the Minister's goodwill towards the officials and staff of Longford County Council. It is one of just 19 local electoral areas, LEAs, throughout the country that paid out more than 99% of their grants. That is commendable work on their part.

Initially, €160 million was allocated.

At present, it looks as if €102 million has been paid out under this scheme. The Minister has indicated a further round of payments for retail and hospitality. Is that on top of the €160 million or is it going to be taken from the €160 million?

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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We currently have €230 million transferred to the local authority sector and that will cover the first and second rounds. Once that is disbursed, there will be a small enough buffer left over and, at that stage, we will assess what we can do with it. My focus is that any money that is voted by this House in the budget will be spent by my Department this year, and I am very clear on that. I and the two Ministers of State will be going forensically through each area to ensure that all money that businesses need badly goes into their bank accounts to help them with the increased regulatory environment. Local authorities across the country now have €230 million in their accounts to pay out this grant to businesses. Over the coming week, we will see the second payment going out to retail and hospitality. That is very important. They have endured a lot of regulatory change in the last 18 months and, hopefully, this will help them to prepare for a good second half of the year.

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I would give a word of caution and perhaps a word of warning. As we came out of Covid, many businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises in retail and hospitality, became somewhat dependent on supports and this continued through the ICOB scheme. I am sure this has been fed into the budgeting process. It is critical that we have a commitment in the budget to ensure the supports that businesses have enjoyed, and have been dependent on to keep their doors open, will continue. Hopefully, we will see a specific line in the budget to continue the support for these businesses.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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We will do our very best to have a strong budget for businesses. That is central to what we are doing in the Department. The benefits of our SME package are now being felt across the country. The reduced rate of PRSI will take effect from 1 October for workers on the national minimum wage. That process will be linked directly to the Low Pay Commission to ensure that minimum wage workers will not be at the higher rate of PRSI. There are also a number of energy efficiency grants that are very important to the work on the sustainability piece. Digital transformation is key to the SME sector but it is one area where I would be quite alarmed because some SMEs have a lot of work to do in that regard. We have set a target of 90% by 2030 and it is very important that, as a Government, we support them on that journey. We will be focused on that in our budgetary package. Our taxation submission is ready to go to the Department of Finance this week and we will be liaising with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, on the expenditure side to see how we can continue the support in that regard.