Enterprise Support Grant application form: where it comes from, and how to claim step by step

Where the form comes from

The Department's guidelines say an application can only be processed on its official form. The gov.ie page for the grant has no form to download. It says every application goes through an Employment Personal Adviser at your local Intreo Centre.

You must be approved for, and started on, the two-year allowance for people coming off long-term welfare or the allowance that runs as long as your Jobseeker's Benefit would. No one else can apply, whatever payment they are on.

Ideally the grant application runs alongside your allowance application, so the adviser can judge it against your business plan.

The steps, in order

1. Put the costs in your business plan. List each item and its cost, and show how you will pay your own share. The adviser uses it to decide the level of grant. Our notes on the plan that goes in with form BTW2 cover the rest of it.
2. Ask your adviser for the form. The adviser may ask for more information before deciding.
3. Get two quotes for each item. If you use only one supplier, give the reason.
4. Wait for approval before you buy. The grant cannot be claimed for a cost you have already paid.
5. Buy the item and keep the paperwork. You need an invoice marked paid, and an official receipt or other proof of payment.
6. Get paid. The money goes by bank transfer. If you cannot pay up front, the Department can pay the supplier directly. It never pays you in advance.

Claims under €100 are not accepted, except for training and mentoring.

The limits by type of cost

Each type of cost has its own ceiling, and every claim counts towards one total. These are the figures on gov.ie on 3 October 2026, before Budget 2027.

Only one grant is paid per business. If two people on the allowance set up as partners, there is still one grant.

What it will not pay for

• rent on a building or premises
• any kind of vehicle
• stock
• travel, including flights, business trips and conferences
• any insurance other than public liability
• ordinary clothing and uniforms
• renovating premises you do not own
• membership fees and courses run by professional bodies
• training outside the types in the table

It is not there to help with cashflow. The adviser can also refuse it if another State body is a better source of funding.

The 20% you pay yourself

For most costs you put in at least 20%. For mentoring and short training courses it is 10%. On a €500 quote for signage, that means at least €100 from you.

Your plan should show where that money comes from. The adviser can ask for a bank statement or similar to prove you have it, and can refuse the grant if you cannot show it.

When to claim

The guidelines call these start-up costs that should ideally be claimed in the first 12 months. The adviser can still approve a claim later in your allowance, and can consider a cost you did not plan for if you have kept in touch about how the business is going.

The grant is only for people currently on the allowance. On a 6-month Short-Term claim that leaves little time, so ask early.

A refusal cannot go to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. You can ask for it to be reviewed by an officer who was not involved, or by a more senior officer. We cover the full rules for the €2,500 start-up grant separately.

A different grant with the same name, now closed

From 2020 the Department ran a separate COVID-19 Enterprise Support Grant. It paid up to €1,000 to self-employed people who closed their Pandemic Unemployment Payment claim to reopen a business, and a second €1,000 to some who went back on the payment in 2021.

Gov.ie says it is now closed. Old documents about it, with rules on commercial rates and a €1 million turnover limit, do not apply to the grant on this page.

Common questions

Keep reading

• the start-up course this grant can help you pay for
• a State-backed loan for costs the €2,500 does not reach
• a business plan with your start-up costs and your 20% share set out