Operational Guidelines: Enterprise Support Grant

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 Jobseeker's Benefit,Jobseeker's Benefit for the Self-Employedor Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit, STEA can be paid for the normal duration of that payment.

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

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.

Scheme policy is administered by:

Funding is granted at the discretion of the DSP Employment Personal Adviser 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 Employment Personal Adviser, 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.

• 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 Employment Personal Advisers.

• 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 Employment Personal Advisers. 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 Employment Personal Adviser 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.

• 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 Employment Personal Adviser 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 Employment Personal Adviser, 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 Employment Personal Adviser 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).

• 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:

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

• 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 Employment Personal Adviser 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.

Department Staff/Employment Personal Advisers 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.

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.

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.

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:

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