Fingal CEBoard/State Agency Assistance to Business

1.1 Who is Fingal County Enterprise Board? 

Answer: Fingal County Enterprise Board is part of a network of 35 City and County Enterprise Boards nationwide. The role of the Board is to support and provide assistance to existing and potential small business promoters located in the Fingal area. In addition the Board aims to foster the development of an enterprise culture. Fingal County Enterprise Board is funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment and the EU. 

1.2 What support services does Fingal County Enterprise Board offer? 

Answer: Fingal CEB provides general Information and Advice to people interested in starting or growing a small business. We also offer tailored Funding, Mentoring, Networking, Training & Workspace.  

1.3 What geographical areas does Fingal County Enterprise Board Cover? 

Answer: The County of Fingal in Dublin. Fingal is located in the North of Dublin. The Greater Dublin area comprises four local authority areas; Dublin City, Fingal, South Dublin & Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown. Each has its own Enterprise Board.

Link to the map of Fingal Area.
 

1.4 What is the role of the Fingal County Enterprise Board? 

Answer: The Fingal County Enterprise board provides the following:

• Direct and refundable financial supports
• Advice, counselling and mentoring assistance to individuals, groups and new enterprises.   

1.5 What are the criteria for financial assistance?   

Answer: Projects seeking financial support must have less than ten employees, be in the commercial sphere and demonstrate a market for the product / service and most importantly have a capacity for growth and new job creation. In particular, project promoters should be able to demonstrate that:

• There is market for the proposed product or service
• Adequate overall finance will be available to fund the project
• They possess the management and technical capacity to implement the proposed project. Projects to be assisted should add value so as to generate income or supplement income for those involved and should have the capacity to create new direct employment either full/part time/seasonal or should at a minimum contribute directly to the maintenance of employment in existing enterprises.

1.6 What sort of business projects are assisted?  

Answer:

• Commercially viable
• Has job creation potential
• Can demonstrate that labour shortages do not exist

Target projects are those with the potential to employ up to ten persons.

A project may not qualify for assistance:

• If it is already working with other agencies e.g., Enterprise Ireland
• If it is covered by an existing EU grant scheme

A project, which can proceed without grant assistance only by taking market share from existing businesses, cannot be assisted financially. These conditions would exclude most retail, professional services and most consultancies.

1.7 Are there grants for starting a business?  

Answer: There is a large array of supports for starting a business including advice, information, training, mentoring, social welfare allowances and reliefs and sometimes direct grant aid assistance for researching a business idea, employing people or investing in equipment.

Businesses that receive grant aid are those that have been identified as having potential for providing long-term viable jobs. Therefore, the support agencies are interested in the areas of business that are innovative, fill new market niches, replace imported products or services, demonstrate good management skills and have the financial viability necessary to succeed. Although most start-up businesses do not receive cash grant aid, all can avail of information and advice. 

1.8 If a project does not qualify for grant assistance can it avail of any other assistance?  

Answer: Yes. A wide range of non-financial supports is available to businesses regardless of whether they qualify for grant assistance. These services are geared specifically to the needs of small Fingal based businesses.  

1.9 Do projects from the service sector qualify for grant assistance?  

Answer:  Service sector projects may qualify for financial assistance. Service sector businesses should satisfy the following criteria:

• Have a real capacity to develop into internationally trading services and / or have strong growth potential.
• The market served is one where there is potential for growth, but not at the expense of businesses already in the market i.e. no displacement
• The service offered will foster innovation, either within the supported business or within the business to which the service is being provided
• Service offered will improve the quality of the service provision in the sector

1.10 How do the Enterprise Boards select projects for grant assistance?  

Answer: The City & County Enterprise Boards pursue a systematic appraisal of all project proposals. The initial application is assessed by the Evaluation Committee and a recommendation is made to the Board on the level and form of assistance having regard to the other sources of finance available. An overriding requirement is the avoidance of displacement or dead-weight. The key selection criteria are as follows:

• The quality of the project proposal and its local relevance and economic benefits
• The commercial viability of the enterprise and of the project proposal
• Availability of matching finance/current funding position of the enterprise and proposed sources of funding
• The cost effectiveness of the proposition
• The contribution of the proposal to the development of the enterprise in terms of internal capacity 
• Potential for deadweight or displacement
• Impact on poverty, equality, rural development and the environment.

Priority must be given to manufacturing and internationally traded services, which over time can develop into strong export entities and graduate to the Enterprise Ireland portfolio; tourism projects aimed predominantly at overseas visitors and locally provided services promoted by the unemployed or those recently made redundant and also women re-entering the workforce. 

1.11 What grant aid is available?  

Answer: The Enterprise Boards have three types of finance assistance available:

• Feasibility Study Grant
• Priming Grant
• Business Expansion Grant

Feasibility/Innovation Grant

Feasibility/Innovation Grants are designed to assist the promoter with researching market demand for a product or service and examining its sustainability.  It includes assistance with innovation including specific consultancy requirements, hiring of expertise from third level colleges, private specialists, design, patent costs and prototype development.

The maximum Feasibility/Innovation Grant payable for the South and East Region must not exceed 50% of the investment or €20,000 whichever is the lesser. 

Expenditure may be considered under the following headings:

• Innovation Costs - Costs under this category may include prototype development, innovative design, research costs, patent costs and third level college consultancy.
• Consultancy Costs - These include design fees, architect, accountant and legal fees.
• Miscellaneous Costs - This may include telephone costs, mileage costs at €0.26 per kilometre, subsistence & overnight costs, air travel etc.   The overall maximum drawdown in this category should not exceed 20% of the overall grant level.

(Note: payments to state bodies including local authorities are excluded).

Priming Grant - For Businesses Trading < 18 Months

A Priming Grant is a business start-up grant available to micro enterprises within the first 18 months of start-up. Priming grants may be available for sole traders, partnerships, community groups or limited companies that fulfil the following criteria:

• Located within the Fingal geographic area
• A business which on growth may or may not fit the Enterprise Ireland portfolio
• A business employing up to 10 employees
• A manufacturing or internationally traded services business
• A domestically traded services business with the potential to trade internationally
• A domestically traded services business being established by a female returning to the workforce or unemployed persons where the potential for deadweight and displacement does not exist.

The maximum Priming Grant payable must not exceed 50% of the investment or €150,000 whichever is the lesser.

Grants over €80,000 and up to €150,000 shall be the exception and shall only apply in the case of projects that clearly demonstrate a potential to graduate to Enterprise Ireland and/or to export internationally.

In all other cases, the maximum grant shall be 50% of the investment of €80,000 whichever is the lesser.

Subject to the 50% limit, a maximum grant of up to €15,000 per full time job created shall apply in respect of any employment support grant aided.

Expenditure may be considered under the following headings:

• Capital Items - these include fit out of workspace office equipment machinery computer costs hardware and software etc (Note acquisition of building and purchase of mobile assets are excluded from grant aid).
• Salary Costs - for 1st year of employment this to be paid out in two instalments. The first instalment at the commencement of employment and the second instalment once the employment has continued in existence for a period of six months. The level of grant support should reflect the salary scale proposed for the employment being generated. It is anticipated that only quality jobs attracting salaries in excess of €40,000 will be eligible for the maximum €15,000 grant support with appropriately scaled back grants offered in accordance with proposed salary for lower paid positions.  Staff recruitment costs may also be considered eligible for grant aid.
• Rental/Accommodation Costs - for 1st year of project. (Note where rental space is already subsidised by an investment of public funds then grant support should reflect the differential between the market rate and subsidised rate). Rental costs may be paid up front subject to receipt by the Board of signed lease/rental agreements.
• Utility Costs - these include installation costs for telephone and broadband (Note: mobile phone costs are excluded).
• Marketing Costs - these include packaging, brochures,  business cards, trade fairs, website design and development and other marketing initiatives.
• Consultancy Costs - these include design fees, patent costs, architect, accountant and legal fees.
• Business Specific Training - costs here refer to specialised management or key personnel training programmes that are required to ensure the growth of the business. Such courses should not be generally available under the Board's general training programmes.

Business Expansion Grant - For Businesses Trading > 18 Months

The business Expansion grant is designed to assist business in its growth phase after the initial 18 month start-up period.  Micro enterprises tht have availed of a Priming Grant are ineligible to apply for a Business Expansion Grant until 18 months after the final drawdown date of the Priming Grant except in exceptional circumstances.

Business Expansion Grants may be awarded to sole traders, partnerships, community groups or limited companies that fulfil the following criteria:

• Located within the Fingal geographic area
• A business which on growth may or may not have the capacity to fit the Enterprise Ireland portfolio
• A business employing up to 10 employees
• A manufacturing or internationally traded services business
• A domestically traded service business with the potential to trade internationally

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