Enterprises in the Cork County Council area have received no funding from the Increased Cost of Business Scheme
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An Ireland South European Elections candidate has said that it is “absolutely woeful” that no funds from the Increased Cost of Business Scheme (ICOB) have been paid out to businesses in the Cork County area.
Sinn Féin candidate senator Paul Gavan said that “It’s absolutely woeful that not a single cent of ICOB funding has been paid out to businesses in County Cork operating under increasingly difficult conditions and increased costs”.
In response to a parliamentary question asked by Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment revealed that as of May 15, there had been 4,722 submissions to the scheme in the Cork County Council area, but no businesses had been approved for funding and no money had been paid out.
Meanwhile, in the Cork City Council area 1,202 businesses had been approved for funding worth over €3 million, with €2,703, 868.91 paid out.
“It’s a big government failure,” Senator Gavan said of the findings.
The Sinn Féin candidate said that the ICOB scheme has been “bogged down with delays, confusion and incompetence”.
“No wonder when it closed on April 30th, less than half of qualifying businesses had applied for the support. Sinn Féin pushed the Minister for Enterprise to reopen the scheme so hard pressed business could apply for the relief,” he said.
The European candidate said that businesses have not been able to apply for the scheme and firms which have applied and had their applications processed and thousands of approved businesses have not received any money to date.
“Businesses in County Cork are paying the price for government incompetence for a scheme that was established six months ago,” the senator said.
“Struggling businesses in County Cork need this money and it should be released to all approved businesses immediately.
“It’s vital that government and local authorities urgently roll out a comprehensive communications plan to encourage further SME take up of the ICOB scheme before it closes for a second time.”
