Hardware Association Ireland responds to Government’s new supports for SMEs

The initial reaction of Hardware Association Ireland (HAI) is that the new measures announced by Government this week, while welcomed, are far below what is required to weather the current level of imposed costs and those that are planned.

We will continue to lobby to ensure a fair marketplace for our members and to that end we are seeking meetings with relevant Government Ministers. We will continue to push our key recommendation which is to reduce PRSI to 1% to offset some of the rising costs impacting our sector. Click here for more information about our proposal.

Government’s New Measures:

Key measures include:

• reopening the Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) Scheme for another 14 days
• introducing a second payment of ICOB for businesses in the retail and hospitality sectors
• doubling the Innovation Grant Scheme to €10,000
• increasing the maximum amount available under the Energy Efficiency Grant Scheme to €10,000 and reducing the business contribution rate from 50% to 25%
• widening the eligibility for the Trading Online Voucher, extending it to all sectors up to 50 employees, modernise eligible expenditure and doubling the grant to €5,000
• increasing the lending limit for Microfinance Ireland loans to €50,000 from €25,000
• widening the eligibility for the Digital for Business Consultancy Scheme and extending it to all sectors with up to 50 employees
• launching a new ‘Ireland’s Best Entrepreneur Programme’ to encourage entrepreneurship and startups in under-represented groups
• launching the new online National Enterprise Hub for SMEs to access information on the wide range of Government business supports
• implementing an enhanced ‘SME Test’ by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in conjunction with the Department of the Taoiseach
• review ESRI research on the impact of Statutory Sick Leave before deciding on any further increases
• review the proposed Roadmap for Increasing Minimum Annual Remuneration Thresholds for Employment Permits

The government has also noted other measures being progressed:

• Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys has confirmed that she will increase the employer PRSI threshold from €441 to €496 with effect from 1 October 2024. This will ensure that employers with employees working full time on the national minimum wage will not be required to pay the higher rate of employer PRSI of 11.05% and will instead pay the lower rate of 8.8%.
• The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Patrick O’Donovan will develop proposals for the effective and sustainable use of the €1.5bn surplus in the National Training Fund to future proof workforce skills in SMEs and ensure workers in SMEs can readily access lifelong learning opportunities.

For any queries regarding HAI’s response, and our ongoing Future Costs to Business campaign, contact us at 01 2980969 or email martin@hardwareassociation.ie.