Operational Guidelines: Enterprise Support Grant

1. 1. General Information
2. 1.1 Background
3. 1.2 Objective
4. 1.3 Legislation Basis
5. 1.4 Policy Guidelines and Administration
6. 2. Qualifying Conditions
7. 3. Application Process
8. 4. Grant limits & eligible items for support
9. 5. Ineligible expenditure

10. 6. Expenditure Guidelines
11. 7. Monitoring and Control
12. 7.1 Conflict of Interests
13. 7.2 Monitoring and Control
14. 7.3 GDPR and Freedom of Information
15. 8. Queries and contacts
16. Appendix 1 – Enterprise Support Grant limits for BTWEA
17. Appendix 2 – Enterprise Support Grant limits for STEA (Tables 1 and 2)

1. General Information

1.1 Background

The Department of Social Protection (DSP) is committed to supporting customers who wish to engage in viable self-employment Enterprises. Two income supports schemes, the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) and the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance (STEA), are available to individuals in receipt of DSP qualifying payments along with access to other financial supports to help with business start-up.

Qualifying individuals in receipt of certain long-term payments can retain income support for up to 24 months under the BTWEA. For shorter term jobseekers receiving jobseekers benefit/jobseekers benefit self-employed, STEA can be paid for the normal duration of that payment.

1.2 Objective

The objective is to provide additional financial support to certain DSP Customers commencing self-employment when setting up a new enterprise.

1.3 Legislation Basis

The Enterprise Support Grant (ESG) is a non-statutory payment to provide financial support, in addition to income support under BTWEA and STEA for people who are in receipt of certain qualifying social welfare payments that are approved for those schemes.

1.4 Policy Guidelines and Administration

Scheme policy is administered by:

Working Age Schemes Policy, Enterprise Support Grant

Address:

Department of Social Protection, Enterprise Support Grant, Shannon Lodge, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim, N41 KD81

Website:

www.gov.ie/esg

Email:

BacktoworkAllce@welfare.ie

Phone number:

0818 927999
071 9672616

Funding is granted at the discretion of the DSP Case Officer where the business plan submitted as part of the Enterprise Allowance application sets out the rationale and requirement for the financial support under this scheme.

Funds will not be granted where, in the opinion of the Case Officer, more appropriate funding sources are available, either from other State bodies and/or other agencies sources, or where the applicant does not have the capacity to manage the funds, and/or is not able to demonstrate that they can meet the matching funds requirements.

As this is an administrative scheme decisions cannot be appealed to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. All decisions made under this scheme can be reviewed by an officer not involved in the original decision making process or by a more senior officer.

2. Qualifying Conditions

In order to qualify for access to financial support from this scheme an applicant must be approved and awarded/commenced on the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance or the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance.
No other scheme category of customer on a Social Protection payment is eligible for support under this programme. The scheme cannot be used to support other forms of business start-ups or training.
A customer must have a business project or proposal that is considered viable and sustainable. This will be determined by DSP Case Officers.

3. Application Process

Applications can only be processed using the official Department of Social Protection form and on submission of any related documentation required in the application.
Applications are assessed and approved locally by Case Officers. Preferably, the application process should operate in parallel to the assessment of the application to the BTWEA/STEA with levels of support informed by the business plan/outline submitted by the applicant.
A Case Officer may seek additional information to support their determination of any application under this scheme prior to awarding the grant.
Application processing and payment procedures are set out in a separate guidance document accessible under the WASP team site on Stόr.

4. Grant limits & eligible items for support

The individual items set out in the appendices may be grant supported under the ESG scheme, subject to total payments of €2,500 for the 24 month period of the BTWEA claim.
For those on STEA it will be on a pro-rata basis of up to a maximum of €1,000 (9 months) and €625 (6 months).
Only one grant is payable per organisation (business venture) regardless of the number of participants availing of the BTWEA/STEA schemes i.e. where more than one BTWEA participant sets up a business as a partnership.
An applicant must be able to demonstrate (by way of documentary evidence – a bank statement or similar) if requested by a Case Officer that they are able to make a matching contribution of at least 20% (or as specified in the appendices) to access the level of grant support available.
In general, these cost items relate to start-up expenses or other unforeseen costs for a new enterprise and ideally should only be claimed in the first 12 months. However, the scheme can be accessed over the duration of the BTWEA/STEA scheme subject to the discretion of the Case Officer, for example, where an enterprise can purchase goods/services without the need for ESG funding, awarding of the grant may be deemed unnecessary. The grant is not a funding stream to assist cash flow, nor can it be applied for retrospectively for costs already incurred.
The projected costs should be included in the business proposal and plan submitted in respect of the BTWEA/STEA, as should the ability of the applicant to provide matching funds. Costs that are not anticipated in the planning process can be considered during the lifetime of the enterprise support where the participant remains in contact with the Case Officer and has advised of their ongoing progress.
The level of grant should not exceed the limits set out in the appendices and should be calculated on the basis of documentary evidence provided by the applicant (quotations from at least two suppliers are necessary or if a single supplier, the reason for choosing a single supplier).

5. Ineligible expenditure

Items not specified in the business proposal and plan should generally not be supported without additional information being provided that illustrates the business need for additional funding.
Ineligible items listed below:

Ineligible Items
Building/premises rental costs
Costs of travel (airline tickets, business trips, foreign travel, conferences)
Insurance (only Public Liability is covered)
Personal clothing & uniforms (excluding protective clothing)
Professional development programmes & membership fees arranged by professional and regulatory bodies e.g. Engineers, Accountants, Legal Profession etc.
Purchase of any type of vehicle
Renovations to premises (not owned by the applicant)
Stock-in-trade
Training or Education other that what is specified in the Appendices

The purchase of goods and services by the department or through third parties is not eligible.

6. Expenditure Guidelines

The scheme is funded from the Vote of the Minister for Social Protection.
The nominal code for this scheme is 66200.
Expenditure under this fund should be charged to each Divisional Cost Centre to support monitoring.
All payments will be made by EFT. Applicants will be expected to have sought value for money by providing more than one quotation for goods and services proposed for grant support.
Payments may be made either directly to the applicant or the provider of goods and services (in the event that the customer is unable to purchase in advance).
There are no circumstances in which advance payments will be made to an applicant.
The Case Officer should obtain clear evidence in the form of a valid invoice marked paid and evidence of payment (in the form of an official receipt or similar proof of payment) that the applicant has paid for the item(s) concerned. Copies of all documentation should be retained for monitoring, control and audit purposes where they should be scanned to the appropriate area on the BOMi system.
Except for training/mentoring costs, claims should not be accepted or approved for amounts less than €100.

7. Monitoring and Control

7.1 Conflict of Interests

Department Staff/Case Officers are reminded of their obligations under the Ethics in Public Office Acts.

Any staff member engaged in the selection or decision making process in respect of this scheme must declare the nature of their interests in any application in which the person or a person connected to them is directly or indirectly involved; or may stand to benefit and will not make any decision in respect of an application.

7.2 Monitoring and Control

Each Division should put in place arrangements for the ongoing monitoring and reporting of the scheme, in particular where it relates to the procurement of goods and services.

Working Age Schemes Policy will establish a central monitoring system to which Divisions will report in respect of the operation of this scheme.

7.3 GDPR and Freedom of Information

DSP Staff are required to ensure that all information and personal data received in respect of ESG comply with the Department’s Freedom of Information and General Data Protection policies.

Formal arrangements are in place for the exchange of information with other Government Departments /Agencies in accordance with the law.

8. Queries and contacts

All Customer queries should initially be addressed at the local Intreo Centre and those that cannot be resolved may be submitted by email to:

Internal Staff member – Mailbox: MBX-BacktoworkAllce

External Customer - BacktoworkAllce@welfare.ie OR in writing to:

Working Age Schemes Policy, Enterprise Support Grant

Address:

Department of Social Protection, Enterprise Support Grant, Shannon Lodge, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim, N41 KD81

Website:

www.gov.ie/esg

Email:

BacktoworkAllce@welfare.ie

Phone number:

0818 927999
071 9672616

Appendix 1 – Enterprise Support Grant limits for BTWEA

BTWEA 24 months - Category	Annual Limit €	Minimum Applicant %
Combination of below in any 24 month period	€2,500.00
Accountancy and related services, including legal advice	500.00	20
Advertising and marketing aids (business cards, flyers)	500.00	20
Business equipment, including office machinery, computers/printer, other equipment	1,000.00	20
Business mentoring (may be offered free or at a reduced rate by LEO/LDCs)	500.00	10
Business registration costs and fees	250.00	20
Compliance, guidance and training (including manual handling, health and safety and similar training, Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point (HACCP)	250.00	20
Job specific tools/equipment	1,000.00	20
Office supplies/stationery	250.00	20
Personal protective clothing and equipment	250.00	20
Public liability insurance costs associated with starting up business - no other insurance is eligible	1,000.00	20
Short duration training/instruction relating to book keeping, regulation, roll-out of business plan, IT courses, start-your-own-business (SYOB) and courses of training related to the business	500.00	10
Signage	500.00	20
Upgrading to premises where the premises is owned by the applicant	1,000.00	20
Website registration, related services and production	500.00	20

Appendix 2 – Enterprise Support Grant limits for STEA (Tables 1 and 2)

TABLE 1:

STEA 6 months - Category (Pro-rated)	Annual Limit €	Minimum Applicant %
Combination of below in any 6 month period or the expiration date of scheme where JB/JBSE is payable for 6 months i.e. 156 days	€625.00
Accountancy and related services, including legal advice	250.00	20
Advertising and marketing aids (business cards, flyers)	250.00	20
Business equipment, including office machinery, computers/printer, other equipment	500.00	20
Business mentoring (may be offered free or at a reduced rate by LEO/LDCs)	125.00	10
Business registration costs and fees	125.00	20
Compliance, guidance and training (including manual handling, health and safety and similar training, HACCP)	125.00	20
Job specific tools/equipment	500.00	20
Office supplies/stationery	125.00	20
Personal protective clothing and equipment	125.00	20
Public liability insurance costs associated with starting up business - no other insurance is eligible	500.00	20
Short duration training/instruction relating to book keeping, regulation, roll-out of business plan, IT courses, start-your-own-business (SYOB) and courses of training related to the business	125.00	10
Signage	250.00	20
Upgrading to premises where the premises is owned by the applicant	500.00	20
Website registration, related services and production	250.00	20

TABLE 2:

STEA 9 months - Category (Pro-rated)	Annual Limit €	Minimum Applicant %
Combination of below in any 9 month period or the expiration date of scheme where JB/JBSE is payable for 9 months i.e. 234 days (increase from €937 to €1,000 as part of July Jobs Stimulus 2020)	€1000.00
Accountancy and related services, including legal advice	375.00	20
Advertising and marketing aids (business cards, flyers)	375.00	20
Business equipment, including office machinery, computers/printer, other equipment	750.00	20
Business mentoring (may be offered free or at a reduced rate by LEO/LDCs)	375.00	10
Business registration costs and fees	187.50	20
Compliance, guidance and training (including manual handling, health and safety and similar training, HACCP)	187.50	20
Job specific tools/equipment	750.00	20
Office supplies/stationery	187.50	20
Personal protective clothing and equipment	187.50	20
Public liability insurance costs associated with starting up business - no other insurance is eligible	750.00	20
Short duration training/instruction relating to book keeping, regulation, roll-out of business plan, IT courses, start-your-own-business (SYOB) and courses of training related to the business	375.00	10
Signage	375.00	20
Upgrading to premises where the premises is owned by the applicant	750.00	20
Website registration, related services and production	375.00	20

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