Funding Announced Of €8.24m For Ireland's Enterprise Centres

Supporting regional growth and innovation in Ireland

On the 20^th November 2020, the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar confirmed that €8.24m is now available to help Enterprise Centres all over Ireland in weathering the pandemic storm. This much-need financial injection will be spent on modernising their facilities, securing jobs and protecting the health and safety of the people who work there.

For the last two decades, Enterprise Centres have played an instrumental role in supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses, making up a crucial part of the country’s start-up ecosystem. Each centre offers targeted regional assistance to the area it serves, providing space, mentoring, connectivity, mentoring and scalability support to start-up founders and teams across Ireland.

This latest funding, administered by Enterprise Ireland, will help to secure the future of these Covid-hit regional Enterprise Centres. It can provide them the chance to pivot and grow their services so that the next wave of Irish start-up companies can flourish.

What do these Enterprise Centres do for growth?

It’s no secret that COVID-19 has battered the economy this year, with Enterprise Centres now playing a vital role in economic recovery. They provide space, training and advice, and administer grants to hundreds of companies and entrepreneurs throughout Ireland.

Thanks to these centres, over 2,000 companies have been able to benefit leading to thousands of new jobs in towns and villages everywhere.

How the Enterprise Centre Fund will work

Enterprise Centres that are eligible for the grant can apply for anything between €10,000 and €150,000 of grant funding. As it’s a grant it won’t need to be paid back, and grants can cover up to 80% of qualifying costs detailed in the Recovery Plan which each applicant must submit. Applicants must then be able to demonstrate how they will fund the remaining balance themselves. This can be done in a number of ways, including by using the revenue centres make on their core activities over the plan’s duration.

Eligibility

To receive this funding, an Enterprise Centre must:

• Be a not-for-profit company, or a not-for-profit DAC or CLG enterprise, or a campus
• Have its headquarters in the Republic of Ireland
• Provide both rented accommodation space to enterprise and capability building supports and services by delivering structured programmes
• Demonstrate that funding is required so that the centre can cover operational costs over the next 6-12 months
• Have a track record in delivering a range of development programmes to start-ups. This should be a crucial part of the enterprise centre’s business model
• Have been in existence in 2019

How to apply

For more details and how to apply for the funding, contact your regional Enterprise Ireland office.

Innovation is the cornerstone of Ireland's success

Over the last three decades in particular, the Irish Republic has built a strong reputation for scientific and technological excellence that leads the way in social and economic progress. Innovation is also an essential component in the country’s economic development policy, now more so than ever.

The fact is that Ireland is small country operating on a world stage. This is why successive governments have been keen to maintain its competitiveness, with the creation of high value jobs and growth at the heart of this. The government continues to recognise the importance of attracting and nurturing scientists, innovators, researchers, innovators and businesses.

Ireland is also one of the leading RDI (Research, Development and Innovation) locations in the world. It provides the perfect political, social and commercial environment for companies to undertake profitable RDI work. It has been particularly well regarded in recent years for its world-beating RDI projects in areas including medical devices, financial services, ICT, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

How R&D Tax Credits are also helping Irish companies fund essential innovative projects

The R&D Tax Credits scheme is a jewel in Ireland’s crown when it comes to making the country an attractive place to innovate and grow your business. It’s a lucrative tax incentive designed to encourage investment in R&D by companies that are based here.

Essentially, up to 25% of a company’s R&D expenditure can be claimed back as a credit, over and above the standard Corporation Tax deductable rate of 12.5%. As long as certain criteria are met, this in effect means as much as 37.5% of an applicable expenditure can be recovered.

All Irish companies can claim, regardless of size or industry, and the benefit is provided either as a reduction in a company’s Corporation Tax, or as lump sum instalments for those that made a loss.

If this sounds like something your own company could benefit from, see our R&D Tax Credits page to find out more.

Is my company eligible for R&D Tax Credits and how do I claim successfully?

This is where the Tax Cloud portal comes in. Launched in Ireland back in 2017 the Tax Cloud portal was designed by the R&D funding specialists at Myriad Associates to guide you through a seamless (maximised) claims experience. Plus, because a lot of the leg work is completed by the platform rather than by humans, it represents a substantial cost saving for any Irish business looking to claim R&D Tax Credits in 2021 and beyond.

How does the Tax Cloud portal work?

It’s simply a case of signing up and inputting some details into the portal about your company and your R&D project. At this point our highly experienced team will check in detail to make sure you’re definitely eligible (so no time is wasted making an unsuccessful application).

Once this stage has been passed, you’ll then go through all the fully guided steps to enter your costs and create your technical report. Once again, our team are on hand to examine your claim at each stage, and you can ask questions at any point if you wish. We’ll also make sure all your costs have been included (even the far less obvious ones) so you can be sure you’re claiming every cent you’re entitled to. Then of course, when your claim is finished, it’s checked by us and when you’re happy with it, we will then submit it to Revenue on your behalf. Furthermore, if Revenue officers need any additional information we’ll deal with that too.

The best bit is you only pay a fee for using the Tax Cloud when your claim is successful and awarded - so there’s no risk and potentially thousands of euros to gain.

Find out more

Sign up to the Tax Cloud portal today or call our friendly expert team on +353 1 566 2001. Alternatively, send us your questions and we'll reply as soon as possible.

Author Barrie Dowsett, ACMA, GCMA CEO, Tax Cloud