Business supports by county

Business grants in Waterford: your Local Enterprise Office, council schemes and loans

Local Enterprise Office Waterford is at 35 The Mall in the city, with a second office in the Civic Offices, Dungarvan. Waterford City and County Council also runs its own schemes in 2026: rates relief and a €6,000 start-up grant for new businesses in vacant units, and a facade grant of up to €2,000.

Checked against the official sources on 3 October 2026.

Local Enterprise Office Waterford

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 Waterford office can and cannot fund.

Local Enterprise Office Waterford

Address
35 The Mall, Waterford, X91 DN23. Second office: Civic Offices, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, X35 Y326
Phone
051 849905
Email
info@leo.waterfordcouncil.ie
Website
localenterprise.ie/Waterford
How to apply
Online portal. Before any grant application you complete an online Grant Expression of Interest form. The office says a member of its team will be in touch within 10 working days to confirm whether you can apply for grant funding. No closing dates or committee dates are published.
Courses
Start Your Own Business courses and other training
Checker

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 Waterford City and County Council offers

Urban Facade Improvement Scheme 2026

Up to 50% of the cost of the works before VAT, to a maximum of €2,000

Owners or leaseholders of premises that front onto a public road in Waterford city centre, Tramore town centre and Dungarvan town centre. Other town and village centres can be considered. A leaseholder needs the owner's consent and at least two years left on the lease. A business on the Economic Incentive Scheme cannot apply.

Online application with two quotes, a description of the works and photographs of the building. Approved works must be finished within six months, and the grant is paid afterwards against paid invoices.

Open. The online application form opened on 13 January 2026 and gives a deadline of 31 December 2026. Grants are given first come, first served while the funding lasts.

See the scheme on the council's site

Economic Incentive Scheme 2026

Up to three years of rates relief, to a maximum of €5,000 a year, for as long as the business keeps trading. On top of that, a start-up grant of €6,000 over three years (€3,000, €2,000 and €1,000), paid against proof of spending on fit-out and overheads.

New retail, service or office businesses opening in a property that has been vacant for at least one month, in Waterford city centre or the zoned centre of a county town or village. Cafes, restaurants, takeaways, pubs, hairdressers and beauty salons, newsagents and convenience stores, supermarkets, discount shops, bookmakers, phone shops and vape shops are listed as ineligible, except in exceptional cases. A business moving to a similar sized premises in the same areas does not qualify.

Online application form on the council's Submit portal. Only complete applications received by 31 December 2026 are considered, and acceptance is at the council's discretion.

Open. The scheme runs from 1 January to 31 December 2026.

See the scheme on the council's site

Prompt Payment Incentive and Commercial Rates Energy Discount

Prompt Payment Incentive: no increase in 2026 rates for bills of €5,000 or less (the council raised rates by 3.5% for 2026). Commercial Rates Energy Discount: 9% off commercial rates.

The Prompt Payment Incentive is for businesses with a rates bill of €5,000 or less. The Energy Discount is for small and medium businesses with a rates bill under €10,000, and all hospitality businesses, that commit to two green pledges and send in evidence that they have carried them out.

The council's commercial rates page does not set out how to sign up for the Prompt Payment Incentive, so ask the council on 0818 10 2020. The Energy Discount is applied for online, and you must apply again each year.

The Energy Discount took 2026 applications from 27 July to 27 September 2026 and is now closed.

See the scheme on the council's site

Night-Time Economy Grant 2026

Grants of €500 to €1,000 for artists, venues, businesses and community groups to try out events in Waterford city's Purple Flag Zone on Sunday to Thursday evenings after 5pm. The 2026 round closed on 2 September 2026, for events running up to 13 November 2026.

See the scheme on the council's site

Festivals and Events Grant Scheme 2027

Funding for the organisers of festivals and events across Waterford. Applications are made on the council's festivals website and close at 4pm on Tuesday 13 October 2026.

See the scheme on the council's site

Calculator

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 Waterford

LEADER pays grants to rural businesses and community groups. In Waterford it is delivered by one local group, and their staff help you put an application together.

Waterford LEADER Partnership

Rural County Waterford. LEADER does not cover areas inside the Waterford city boundary.

Closed to new expressions of interest for now. Call 5 of 2026 took them until 17 July 2026, and applicants invited from that call must apply by 12 noon on Friday 16 October 2026. You must attend an information workshop before you can send an expression of interest in a later call.

Phone: 058 54646

LEADER on this group's site

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.

Buíon Phort Láirge (formerly Waterford Area Partnership)

Waterford city and county. Head office at 64 O'Connell Street, Waterford, and a county office in Dungarvan Enterprise Centre

Phone: 051 841 740

Visit its website

Also in Waterford

  • Waterford 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 South East Technological University, Waterford campus.

Good to know in Waterford

Local Enterprise Office Waterford asks for an online expression of interest before a grant application and says it replies within 10 working days. It has offices at 35 The Mall in the city and in the Civic Offices in Dungarvan. It publishes no closing dates for grant rounds.

Waterford's Economic Incentive Scheme for vacant premises pays cash as well as rates relief: up to €5,000 a year off rates for three years and a €6,000 start-up grant. The premises only has to have been vacant for one month. Read the list of ineligible businesses before you plan around it, because cafes, restaurants, takeaways, hairdressers, beauty salons and convenience stores are on it.

The Waterford facade grant pays half the cost of painting, signage and repairs to a building front, up to €2,000, in Waterford city centre, Tramore and Dungarvan. Small ratepayers have two discounts. The Prompt Payment Incentive cancels the 2026 rates increase for bills of €5,000 or less. The Commercial Rates Energy Discount takes 9% off for businesses that complete two green pledges, and its 2026 window closed on 27 September.

LEADER in County Waterford is delivered by Waterford LEADER Partnership, which is based in Lismore. Call 5 of 2026 is closed to new expressions of interest, and its application deadline is 16 October 2026. An Rinn and An Sean Phobal, west of Dungarvan, are in the Gaeltacht, where Údarás na Gaeltachta supports businesses.

What every business in Waterford can apply for

Paid service: business plan pack, €99

We can write the business plan for your allowance application

Starting a business in Waterford? 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
€99Order my plan pack, €99See what is in the pack

€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 Waterford?

The city office is at 35 The Mall, Waterford, X91 DN23. There is a second office in the Civic Offices, Dungarvan, X35 Y326. Both open Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 4.30pm. Phone 051 849905 or email info@leo.waterfordcouncil.ie.

Can a shop or cafe in Waterford get a LEO grant?

Usually no. The cash grants from Local Enterprise Office Waterford are for manufacturing and internationally traded services businesses with up to 10 staff. 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. The council's facade grant and rates discounts, LEO mentoring and training, and a Microfinance Ireland loan are the other options. A new shop in a vacant unit may suit the Economic Incentive Scheme, but cafes are on its ineligible list.

Does Waterford City and County Council give grants to businesses?

Yes. In 2026 it has the Economic Incentive Scheme, with rates relief of up to €5,000 a year for three years and a €6,000 start-up grant for new businesses in vacant units. It has the Urban Facade Improvement Scheme, which pays 50% of the cost up to €2,000. It gives a 9% rates discount to businesses that take two green pledges, and it ran a night-time economy grant of €500 to €1,000 whose 2026 round has closed.

Who helps with a Back to Work Enterprise Allowance business plan in Waterford?

Buíon Phort Láirge, formerly known as Waterford Area Partnership. Case officers at the Department of Social Protection refer people who have applied for the allowance to it for business planning, and its mentors help with the plan. Its head office is at 64 O'Connell Street in Waterford city and its county office is in Dungarvan Enterprise Centre. Phone 051 841 740.

Is LEADER funding open in Waterford?

Not to new applicants at the moment. Call 5 of 2026 took expressions of interest until 17 July 2026, and those invited to apply have until 12 noon on Friday 16 October 2026. Grants in that call ran from €5,000 to €200,000, at up to 75% of the project cost. For the next call, phone Waterford LEADER Partnership on 058 54646. Attending one of its information workshops is mandatory before you can apply.

Where this comes from

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.