The local authorities in Monaghan and Cavan are appealing to all SMEs in the region to apply for their Increased Cost of Business Grant before the deadline of next Wednesday, May 1st. At the start of this week there was only a 30 to 50 per cent take up of the grant, which could be worth up to 50 per cent of their commercial rates bill.
The Government agreed a package of €257 million for the Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) Grant in budget 2024. For businesses with a 2023 Commercial Rate bill of less than €10,000, the ICOB grant will be paid at a rate of 50% of the business’s Commercial Rate bill for 2023. For qualifying businesses with a 2023 Commercial Rate bill of between €10,000 and €30,000, the ICOB grant will be €5,000. Whereas businesses with a 2023 Commercial Rates bill greater than €30,000 are not eligible to receive an ICOB grant.
To be eligible for ICOB, businesses must be rate compliant. Olga McConnons from Monaghan County Council explained businesses are considered rates compliant if they have paid their 2023 rates in full or are on a performing payment plan. Olga said registration is easy and reminds people to get their application in before May 1st: "We need people to apply for this grant," she told Northern Sound, "Each business within its own local authority will have received a letter probably about a month ago and, for anyone who's not registered we've issued reminder letters to them and we need them to register before Wednesday, 1st May. Registration is very simple so, there's no need to go to any professional body or accountant; you can easily register yourself. The website is mycoco.ie."
