Local Enterprise Office Kerry
The Local Enterprise Office is the first stop for any small business. Training, mentoring and advice are open to everyone. Its cash grants are only for manufacturing and internationally traded services businesses with up to 10 staff. What the Kerry office can and cannot fund.
Local Enterprise Office Kerry
- Address
- County Buildings, Rathass, Tralee, Co. Kerry, V92 H7VT
- Phone
- 066 7183522
- leo@kerrycoco.ie
- Website
- localenterprise.ie/Kerry
- How to apply
- Online portal. Feasibility, Priming and Business Expansion grant applications go through the office's online application system. An Evaluation and Approvals Committee meets about every two months and gets the papers a week before each meeting, so the office recommends applying early to leave time for changes.
- Dates to know
- Closing date for Meeting 5, the last committee round listed for 2026: 21 October 2026
- Courses
- Start Your Own Business courses and other training
Can your business get a LEO grant?
Four taps. The honest answer, and what you can use if the answer is no.
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What Kerry County Council offers
We found no shop front, streetscape or paint grant for 2026 on the council's website. Two pilot schemes ran in 2021: a shopfront scheme for Castle Street in Tralee and a streetscape scheme for selected towns.
100% of rates waived in year 1, 50% in year 2 and 20% in year 3. Nothing from year 4 on.
A new or expanding business that moves into a rateable premises in a Kerry town or village that has been vacant for two years in a row. The annual rates bill must not be over €20,000, and a renter needs a lease of at least 24 months. Takeaways, betting offices, arcades, vape shops, phone repair shops, discount stores and off licences are excluded.
Download the Word application form from the council's website and email it to rateswaiver@kerrycoco.ie, or post it to the Rates Section, Ashe Memorial Hall, Denny Street, Tralee, straight after you occupy the premises. You need a tax clearance certificate and proof of the two years of vacancy. The council does not take retrospective applications.
Open. The 2026 scheme opened on 5 January 2026 and the form gives a closing date of 31 December 2026. Waivers depend on funds being available.
No rebate for small ratepayers and no early payment discount is listed on the council's commercial rates pages for 2026.
A €250,000 fund for projects that improve the look and feel of a Kerry town or village, such as murals, greening and amenity areas. Businesses and community groups could apply, but only for free, community-benefit projects and not for profit-making work. Projects were expected to cost €5,000 to €15,000. The 2026 round closed on 15 May 2026.
What would the council take off your rates?
Pick the council and put in the yearly rates bill for the premises.
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LEADER funding in Kerry
LEADER pays grants to rural businesses and community groups. In Kerry it is delivered by 2 local groups, and their staff help you put an application together.
North, east and west Kerry, with Rural Development Officers for the Castleisland, Listowel, and Tralee and Dingle areas
Contact the Rural Development Officer for your area first. Kerry's programme takes expressions of interest on a rolling basis.
Phone: 066 718 0190
South Kerry, with officers for Cahersiveen, Mid Kerry and Rathmore, and Killarney and Kenmare
Open to expressions of interest on a rolling basis. If yours is found eligible, you are invited to make a full application.
Phone: 066 9472724
Help with a business plan if you are on a welfare payment
If you are on a jobseeker's or other social welfare payment and want to start a business, a local development company helps you prepare the business plan for the enterprise allowances.
North, east and west Kerry. Offices in Tralee, Listowel, Castleisland and Dingle
Phone: 066 718 0190
South Kerry. Head office in Cahersiveen, with offices in Killorglin, Kenmare and Killarney
Phone: 066 9472724
Also in Kerry
- Kerry has a Gaeltacht area. Businesses there deal with Údarás na Gaeltachta, which has its own grants, instead of the Local Enterprise Office for some supports.
- The nearest New Frontiers programme for early-stage founders is at Munster Technological University, Kerry campus (Tom Crean Centre, Tralee).
Good to know in Kerry
Local Enterprise Office Kerry takes Feasibility, Priming and Business Expansion grant applications on its online portal. Its Evaluation and Approvals Committee meets about every two months, and the last closing date listed for 2026 is 21 October 2026. For a Microfinance Ireland loan through the Kerry office, you fill in its online mentoring form and a mentor helps you with the loan application. The office says loans that come through it get a reduced interest rate, set at 5.5% from January 2025.
Kerry County Council's Commercial Rates Waiver Scheme 2026 is the council's rates relief for long-vacant premises in Kerry. It waives 100% of rates in the first year, 50% in the second and 20% in the third for a new or expanding business in a town or village premises that has been vacant for two years in a row. The yearly rates bill must not be over €20,000, and the form gives a closing date of 31 December 2026. We found no shop front grant and no rebate for small ratepayers from the council for 2026.
LEADER funding in Kerry is overseen by the Kerry Local Community Development Committee and delivered by two companies. North, East and West Kerry Development covers the north, east and west of the county, and South Kerry Development Partnership covers the south. Expressions of interest are taken on a rolling basis. The smallest grant is €1,250, and a private business can get up to 75% of the cost of a capital project, to a maximum of €200,000.
The west of the Dingle Peninsula (Corca Dhuibhne) and part of the Uíbh Ráthach peninsula are Gaeltacht areas, where Údarás na Gaeltachta supports businesses. Its client companies are not eligible for Local Enterprise Office grants. Enterprise Ireland's New Frontiers programme for start-up founders runs at the Tom Crean Centre in Tralee, on the Kerry campus of Munster Technological University.
What every business in Kerry can apply for
- Microfinance Ireland loans for Kerry businesses: State-backed loans of €2,000 to €50,000 for businesses with fewer than 10 staff, start-ups included.
- the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance in Kerry: keep your welfare payment for two years while you start a business.
- the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance in Kerry: the same idea for people on Jobseeker's Benefit.
- the Grow Digital Voucher through the Kerry office: half the cost of software and digital tools for small businesses.
- the Energy Efficiency Grant for Kerry firms: help with the cost of cutting your energy bills.
- the Wage Subsidy Scheme for Kerry employers: an hourly subsidy when you employ a person with a disability.
We can write the business plan for your allowance application
Starting a business in Kerry? We write the business plan and 12-month cashflow that an allowance or a loan application asks for.
- Your business plan under the headings the Department of Social Protection asks for
- Your 12-month cashflow, month by month
- A prep sheet for the meeting with your adviser, and a guide to the form
€99 one-off, VAT included. You put in your figures and check your cashflow, then pay and answer the questions. A person prepares your pack within two working days. 14-day money-back promise. We cannot promise any funder will approve you.
Common questions
Where is the Local Enterprise Office in Tralee?
Local Enterprise Office Kerry is in County Buildings, Rathass, Tralee, V92 H7VT. It is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Phone 066 7183522 or email leo@kerrycoco.ie. Its contact page asks people to phone or email first.
Can a shop or cafe in Kerry get a LEO grant?
Usually no. The cash grants from Local Enterprise Office Kerry are for manufacturing and internationally traded services businesses with up to 10 staff. Retail, personal services, professional services and local building services are excluded. A shop or cafe with 1 to 50 employees that has traded for six months can apply for the Grow Digital Voucher (50% of the cost, up to €5,000) and the Energy Efficiency Grant (75% of the cost, up to €10,000). Each one needs a consultant's report first: Digital for Business for the voucher, and Green for Business or an energy audit for the energy grant. Mentoring and training, the council's rates waiver for a long-vacant premises and a Microfinance Ireland loan are the other options.
Does Kerry County Council give grants to businesses?
Its main business scheme in 2026 is the Commercial Rates Waiver Scheme. It takes 100%, 50% and 20% off rates over three years for a business that opens in a town or village premises vacant for two years, where the rates bill is €20,000 or less. We found no shop front or paint grant for 2026 and no rebate for small ratepayers. The Placemaking and Community Activation Grant Scheme was open to businesses for free community projects, but its 2026 round closed on 15 May 2026.
Who helps with a Back to Work Enterprise Allowance business plan in Kerry?
Two local development companies. North, East and West Kerry Development covers the north, east and west of the county from offices in Tralee, Listowel, Castleisland and Dingle (066 718 0190). South Kerry Development Partnership covers the south from Cahersiveen, Killorglin, Kenmare and Killarney (066 9472724), and says it helps unemployed people develop a business plan and cash flow projections. Local Enterprise Office Kerry also runs a Start Your Own Business course live on Zoom, over eight workshops, that ends with a draft business plan. Your Employment Personal Adviser at Intreo refers you, and the Department of Social Protection makes the decision on the allowance.
Is LEADER funding open in Kerry?
Yes, for expressions of interest. South Kerry Development Partnership says they are accepted continuously, with one targeted call a year on top. Start with the LEADER officer for your area. If the idea is eligible, you are invited to make a full application. The minimum grant is €1,250.
Where this comes from
- Local Enterprise Office Kerry, contact page
- Local Enterprise Office Kerry, application forms and 2026 closing dates
- Local Enterprise Office Kerry, Start Your Own Business course
- Local Enterprise Offices, eligibility criteria for financial supports
- Local Enterprise Offices, Grow Digital Voucher
- Local Enterprise Offices, Energy Efficiency Grant
- Kerry County Council, application form for a waiver of rates 2026
- Kerry County Council, Commercial Rates Waiver Scheme 2026 (scheme text)
- Kerry County Council, commercial rates
- Kerry County Council, Placemaking and Community Activation Grant Scheme 2026
- Kerry County Council, Tralee shopfront enhancement pilot (2021)
- Kerry County Council, Streetscape Enhancement Measure 2021 pilot
- Kerry County Council, Kerry's Local Action Group
- gov.ie, LEADER Local Action Groups and implementing partners 2023 to 2027
- North, East and West Kerry Development, LEADER 2023 to 2027
- North, East and West Kerry Development, SICAP and enterprise supports
- North, East and West Kerry Development, contact details
- South Kerry Development Partnership, LEADER 2023 to 2027
- South Kerry Development Partnership, enterprise supports
- South Kerry Development Partnership, contact details
- Údarás na Gaeltachta, the Kerry Gaeltacht
- gov.ie, Back to Work Enterprise Allowance
- New Frontiers, Munster Technological University Kerry campus
Checked on 3 October 2026. We are an independent guide, not a government service. Closing dates and schemes change, so confirm with the office or the council before you rely on anything here.