Grants for sole traders in Ireland: what is open in 2026, and what is not

The €1,000 grant in the news has closed

Most stories about a €1,000 grant for sole traders describe the COVID-19 Enterprise Support Grant. It helped self-employed people coming off the Pandemic Unemployment Payment to reopen. It is closed.

Today's Enterprise Support Grant is a different scheme, only for people on one of the two enterprise allowances below.

The 2026 list at a glance

Starting from a welfare payment

Almost any trade qualifies here, but you must be approved in writing before you start trading.

After 9 months on Jobseeker's Allowance or another qualifying payment, the allowance that keeps a long-term payment going for your first two years in business pays it in full for a year and at 75% for a second. It is not taxed. On the full single rate of Jobseeker's Allowance, that is €254 a week, then €190.50.

On Jobseeker's Benefit, the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance pays the same rate for the rest of your claim, 9 months at most. Both refuse franchises and seasonal or part-time self-employment.

Once you are on either allowance, the Enterprise Support Grant can pay towards equipment, tools, public liability insurance, a website and signage. You pay at least 20% of most costs. It does not cover rent, vehicles, stock or travel.

Once you are trading

Software. The digital voucher that halves the cost of new off-the-shelf software pays up to €5,000 after six months of trading and a free Digital for Business report. Its rules say 1 to 50 paid employees but name self-employed people as eligible, so if you work alone, ask your office how it counts you.

Energy-saving equipment. The Energy Efficiency Grant pays 75% of items such as a more efficient fridge or oven, up to €10,000. You need a free Green for Business report and a rateable premises, not a home office.

Solar and heating. SEAI's business grants are open to every type of business. Solar starts at €900, and up to 30% is paid towards heat pumps and insulation.

A premises. Some councils give back half or more of the first year's rates to a business opening in a vacant unit. Some pay about half the cost of painting a shop front. Not every council runs either.

Empty floors over a shop you own. The grant of up to €135,000 for turning them into homes is for named individuals, sole traders included. A limited company cannot apply.

What you are shut out of, and why

The Local Enterprise Office cash grants. The Feasibility, Priming and Business Expansion Grants accept sole traders, so the structure is not the problem. The sector is. The office rules on which kinds of business are left out exclude retail, personal services, professional services, and construction and local building services. That covers most sole traders: the builder, the hairdresser, the accountant, the cafe owner.

The reason given is displacement: a grant to one local business would only take trade from another nearby. A sole trader who makes a product or sells a service abroad can apply.

The Innovation Voucher. €10,000 of college research time, for limited companies only.

Company tax reliefs. The R&D tax credit, the corporation tax relief for new companies and the SURE refund for founders all need a limited company. Enterprise Ireland's Pre-Seed Start Fund will not approve a sole trader either.

If the work dries up

Your Class S PRSI covers the weekly payment for people whose self-employment has stopped for good. The full rate is €254 a week, for 9 months with 260 or more Class S contributions paid, or 6 months with fewer.

You need 156 Class S contributions in total and 52 in the governing year, which for a 2026 claim is 2024. A year only counts once its tax and PRSI are paid in full.

You must have stopped trading completely. If the business is quiet but still open, ask about Jobseeker's Allowance, which is means-tested.

Loans

Microfinance Ireland, which backs small firms the banks turn down, lends €2,000 to €50,000 at 6.5% fixed, or 5.5% if a Local Enterprise Office or your bank refers you. There are no fees and no security. You must have had difficulty borrowing from a bank.

A sole trader can apply before the business is registered, and a Start Up Loan is interest-only for its first three months.

Many credit unions also lend to sole traders, each on its own terms.

Common questions

Keep reading

• the 31 October tax deadline and what Class S PRSI pays for
• weighing up a company against staying a sole trader
• the 75% equipment grant that needs a rateable premises