Enterprise Support Grant: up to €2,500 towards start-up costs if you are on an enterprise allowance

What it pays

The most you can get is €2,500 across the 24 months of a Back to Work Enterprise Allowance claim. On the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance the limit is €1,000 if your claim runs 9 months and €625 if it runs 6.

Inside that total, each type of cost has its own ceiling. The Department calls these annual limits. This is the table for a Back to Work claim.

On the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance every ceiling is scaled down. On a 9-month claim, equipment, tools, insurance and premises are capped at €750 each. On a 6-month claim they are capped at €500 each.

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

Who can get it

• You have been approved for, and started on, the allowance that lets you keep a long-term welfare payment for two years or the allowance that replaces Jobseeker's Benefit for up to 9 months.
• Your Employment Personal Adviser considers the business viable and sustainable.
• You can show, with a bank statement or similar if asked, that you have the money for your own share.
• The costs were set out in the business plan you sent in with your allowance application.

No one else can apply. The guidelines say the grant cannot be used for any other kind of business start-up.

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

What it does not cover

• rent on a building or premises
• any type 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 professional development run by professional bodies
• training or education outside the categories in the table

The grant is not there to help with cashflow. It cannot be claimed for something you have already paid for.

The adviser can also refuse it if a more suitable source of funding is available from another State body.

How to apply, step by step

1. Put the costs in your business plan. List each item, what it costs and how you will pay your share. You can read what a business plan for a funder has to contain.
2. Ask your Employment Personal Adviser at your local Intreo Centre for the grant application form. Every application goes through an adviser, ideally alongside your allowance application.
3. Get quotes from at least two suppliers for each item. If you use a single supplier, give the reason.
4. Wait for the adviser's decision before you buy. The grant cannot be applied for after the cost has been paid.
5. Buy the item. Give the adviser the invoice marked paid, with an official receipt or other proof of payment.
6. The grant is paid by bank transfer. If you cannot pay up front, the Department can pay the supplier directly.

When to claim

The guidelines say these are start-up costs and should ideally be claimed in the first 12 months. An adviser can still approve a claim later in your allowance.

A cost that was not in the plan can be considered if you have kept your adviser up to date on how the business is going.

The grant can only be drawn while you are on the allowance. On a 6-month Short-Term Enterprise Allowance claim that leaves little time, so ask early.

If you are refused

The grant is discretionary. The Department says the level of funding, if any, is up to the adviser, and that it depends on there being enough money in the fund.

In 2025 the Department spent €0.98 million on the grant. In 2016 it spent €4.48 million.

You cannot appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. You can ask for the decision to be reviewed by an officer who was not involved in it, or by a more senior officer.

If the grant does not stretch to what you need, a State-backed start-up loan of €2,000 or more is another route.

Common questions

Keep reading

• getting the form from your adviser and claiming, in order