Back to Work Enterprise Allowance: keep your welfare payment for two years while you start a business

What it pays

You keep the weekly payment you are on now, including any increases for a qualified adult and children. It is paid at 100% for the first year and 75% for the second, up to 624 paid days.

For example, the full Jobseeker's Allowance rate for a single person aged 25 or over is €254 a week in 2026. That becomes €254 a week in year one and €190.50 in year two.

Once awarded, the allowance is not means-tested. What the business earns is not assessed against it.

It is not taxed, and there is no PRSI or Universal Social Charge on it. You pay tax and Class S PRSI on the profits of the business.

You keep extra benefits such as Fuel Allowance or a medical card, as long as you still pass their means test.

You can add up what the two years would pay you.

Who qualifies

• You are under 66.
• You are setting up a new business that is not trading yet.
• You have been on a qualifying payment continuously for at least 9 months (234 paid days) immediately before you start.
• Your adviser and a Local Development Company have both recommended the business in advance.

The qualifying payments are:

• Jobseeker's Allowance, Jobseeker's Transitional Payment and One-Parent Family Payment
• Disability Allowance, Blind Pension and Invalidity Pension
• Farm Assist, if the new business is not connected to the farm holding or an existing business
• Carer's Allowance at the full rate, once you have stopped caring
• Bereaved Partner's (Non-Contributory) Pension and Deserted Wife's Benefit or Allowance

A mix of these adding up to 9 continuous months also counts. On Illness Benefit the rule is different: 3 of the last 5 years on a qualifying payment.

Casual workers on Jobseeker's Allowance or Jobseeker's Benefit need 12 months (312 days), with no more than 30 days of insurable work in that time.

Time on Community Employment, Tús, the Rural Social Scheme or the Back to Education Allowance can count, if you were on a qualifying payment before it and are back on one now.

You can trade as a sole trader, a partnership or a limited company.

Who is refused

• People on Jobseeker's Benefit or Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit. The guidelines point them to the shorter allowance that runs for the rest of a Jobseeker's Benefit claim.
• A business that was already trading, or one you bought, inherited, leased or took over as a going concern.
• A franchise, or selling under an established brand.
• Seasonal, temporary or part-time self-employment.
• Subcontracting for a single customer, such as one main contractor on a building site.
• A business that would take trade unfairly from local competitors, or one entering a crowded local market.
• A business outside the State. An online business must be based in Ireland and registered with Revenue.
• A second claim within five years of your last one.

You cannot work as an employee, full-time or part-time, while on the allowance.

How to apply, step by step

1. Meet your Employment Personal Adviser at your Intreo Centre or Branch Office. They check that you qualify and complete an assessment of suitability form, which you both sign.
2. The adviser refers you to your Local Development Company. For this allowance that step is part of the process, not an option. You can look up the development company for your county.
3. The Enterprise Officer there helps you prepare the business plan and form BTW2, and deals with any concerns the adviser raised.
4. Complete a Start Your Own Business course, at the outset or by your three-month review at the latest. It can be one of the short start-up courses that Local Enterprise Offices run.
5. If the Enterprise Officer recommends the business, they send your adviser form BTW2, the plan, a one-year financial projection and confirmation of your course.
6. The adviser makes a final recommendation and a Deciding Officer decides.
7. Start trading within 12 weeks of approval, unless your adviser agrees to longer, and register as self-employed with Revenue.

Claims from people on Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Blind Pension, Carer's Allowance or Illness Benefit are decided centrally in Carrick-on-Shannon.

What you have to write

Form BTW2 on gov.ie has 8 numbered pages. Most of it is personal details. Part 4 asks about the business: what it involves, your experience, your start date, any staff, other funding, your start-up costs and the money you are putting in yourself.

The business plan is the real work. The guidelines say it must have, as a minimum:

• a full description of the business idea, including how and where you will trade
• financial planning and a business cashflow
• evidence that the business is viable and can last
• an answer to any concern about displacement or a crowded local market
• confirmation of how the business is structured

The plan must show the business can earn all year round. Do not count the allowance itself as income in the cashflow.

Put the start-up costs you want help with into the plan too. Once you are on the allowance you can apply for up to €2,500 towards equipment, insurance and other first-year costs, and that grant is decided on what the plan says.

After you are approved

Your adviser meets you at 3 months and 9 months to check the business is trading in line with the plan. Bring proof of Revenue registration, evidence of trading such as invoices or bank statements, a list of customers and a list of any employees.

If a review finds the business is not sustainable, the claim can be closed.

Near the end of year one the Department sends form BTW17A, confirming the drop to 75%. Sign and return it, or the payment is suspended.

If you take on staff, a business on this allowance can apply for JobsPlus, the Department's grant for hiring long-term jobseekers.

If you are refused

In 2025 the Department registered 1,155 claims for this allowance. It awarded 1,049 and rejected 2. At the end of the year 1,837 people were getting it.

The published tables do not show how many people dropped out before a formal claim was registered.

If your adviser does not recommend you, you can ask in writing for a review within 21 days, enclosing any new evidence. An adviser or manager who was not involved looks at it again. A Deciding Officer's refusal can be reviewed by another Deciding Officer.

The scheme is not set in law, so you cannot appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

Common questions

Keep reading

• what to write in the business plan, heading by heading
• claiming up to €2,500 for equipment, insurance and a website