Power Up grant of €4,000 available to businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors

The Power Up grant registration process is now closed. No further registrations will be accepted.

Local Authorities are emailing businesses who may be eligible for the Power Up grant. The email includes details on how to register. Don’t delay with registering, the Power Up registration portal is open for a limited time in order to get payments to businesses before the end of the year.

Eligibility

Power Up eligibility is aligned with the Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) scheme. A business in the retail, hospitality or beauty sector that received a second payment under the ICOB scheme is eligible to register for the Power Up grant. If you didn’t register for the ICOB grant you are not eligible to register for the Power Up grant.

Eligible businesses that received a second payment under ICOB must continue to meet the ICOB eligibility requirements below in order to qualify for Power Up:

your business must have received a Commercial Rates Bill equal to or less than €30,000 in 2023
your business must currently operate from a property that is commercially rateable
businesses must be rates compliant for 2023 as per the ICOB criteria. Businesses with approved and performing payment plans from 2023 may be deemed compliant. Compliance will be verified by the relevant Local Authority
your business must be tax compliant and possess a valid Tax Registration Number (TRN)

When registering, businesses need to confirm on the Power Up registration portal that they are currently trading and intend to continue trading for at least three months from the date they verify their information (including those seasonally closing businesses who intend to reopen in Spring 2025). Businesses do not need to send confirmation of bank details unless they have changed since they received the second ICOB payment.

Businesses in the hospitality, retail and beauty sectors that did not receive the second payment under ICOB may be eligible for Power Up if they were trading in 2023 from a rateable premises but were unable to apply for ICOB as they did not have a 2023 commercial rates bill. Eligible businesses in this category will be able to register on the Power Up portal in December. These businesses must be rates complaint and also fulfil the relevant eligibility criteria outlined above.

Registering is similar to ICOB registration and is quick and easy.

Please go to mycoco.ie/powerup for further information.

If you have not received an email and think you may be eligible, please contact the rates section of your Local Authority.