Financial Supports

Fingal County Enterprise Board provides a range of financial supports to qualifying small businesses which are based in the Fingal County area. The primary aim of the Board is to provide assistance to new and existing small businesses in order to allow the project to achieve its full potential. Assistance tends to be restricted on the basis of sectoral and competitive factors. Local factors such as employment generation and impact on the local economy are also considered. In general, preference is given to manufacturing and service businesses with the potential for international trade. There are exceptions however and you should contact our Project Executive to discuss your own particular circumstances.

General Conditions:

The general conditions for grant support are as follows:

• sector of the economy in which an enterprise is operating or intends to operate
• size or proposed size of the enterprise.  We can assist in the establishment and/or development of new and existing enterprises from individuals/sole traders, companies and community groups subject to the following eligibility criteria;

The Enterprise must:

• be in the commercial sphere;
• demonstrate a market for the product/service;
• have a capacity for growth and new job creation
• not employ more than 10 people

Any expenditure incurred prior to receipt by applicant of the letter of offer from the board will not be eligible for grant support.

Eligible Costs:

Financial Supports may cover business costs directly attributable to starting a new business or growing and developing a business or for carrying out a Feasibility/Innovation study except payments to State Bodies.

Amounts of Grant Aid:

• Overall the cumulative level of grants to a micro enterprise must not exceed €150,000 over a three year period.  
• The payments of all grants will be subject to enterprises reaching agreed milestones as per their business plans and the Board's letter of offer.

Ineligible Costs:

Under the terms of its remit some projects are not supported by the Enterprise Board:

• Retail outlets and professional services (including consultancies)
• Areas of enterprise which involve displacement of existing jobs or business: Builders, Hairdressers, Cafés, Pubs, Hotels, General Printers, Construction, Trades etc., would come within this category. Generally, where there are a large number of operators within a sector, the board has to have a regard to the implications of grant aiding one or some, possibly putting the others at a competitive disadvantage
• Conferences and Seminars
• Projects which are contrary to public policy
• Duplication of support for projects which would be eligible for assistance from other State Agencies or EU funded Operational Programmes
• Existing Firms which already have an established relationship with Enterprise Ireland or IDA.  Please do not apply to the Enterprise Board if you have an existing application for the same project under consideration by Enterprise Ireland.
• Projects involving primary agricultural production
• Projects with employees in excess of 10 people
• Mobile assets, i.e. cars, motor vans, laptops, mobile machinery etc.
• Projects deemed to be capable of proceeding in any event without Board assistance i.e. deadweight
• Projects essentially comprising importation and distribution

• Own Labour Research costs.

Refundable Aid

Since the year 2000 a proportion of the total financial supports provided by the Fingal County Enterprise Board each year must be in a refundable form.  Accordingly, repayable grants may be provided in which case grants are issued subject to the normal conditions.  Promoters are then required to make repayments in accordance with agreed schedules, usually following an initial moratorium period.

Equity Investment/Preference Shares

This scheme enables companies that are in the growth phase of their development to raise capital through the sale of redeemable preference shares. Generally, repayment takes place over a period of three to five years.  A dividend may be payable, a moratorium on repayments may be offered and the promoter is required to source matching funding.

Fingal County Enterprise Board is authorised to support companies through the purchase of shares, provided the normal criteria for eligibility and limits are met.  Any amounts representing dividends or other monies received by the Board in respect of shares purchased, taken or subsequently sold under this heading will be retained by the Board for local redistribution.

Note:

Payments to state bodies including local authorities are excluded.

VAT excluded.

Own Labour Research excluded.

Feasibility/Innovation Grant>>

Priming Grant>>

Business Expansion Grant>>