Business Grants and Funding in Ireland

Every scheme at a glance

Each entry below gives the funder, the co-funding rate and the ceiling. Full eligibility rules, ineligible costs, application steps and rejection reasons are on the individual scheme pages linked from this list.

• Enterprise Ireland Digital Discovery Grant — Enterprise Ireland, Up to 80% of eligible consultancy cost up to a fixed quote, decided in Allow two to four weeks to scope and quote, then typically four to eight weeks from submission to written approval depending on your adviser's caseload. Our assessment itself runs three to four weeks from kick-off. Plan on roughly three months from first conversation to a finished, funded report.
• Digital Process Innovation Grant — Enterprise Ireland, Typically up to 50% of eligible project cost up to a fixed quote, decided in Realistically three to six months from first scoping conversation to approval on a project of this size, with larger applications taking longer because the business case is scrutinised properly. Delivery of a fixed quote to a fixed quote programme then runs twelve to twenty-four weeks depending on how many live systems are involved.
• Enterprise Ireland Strategic Consultancy Grant — Enterprise Ireland, Typically up to 50% of eligible consultancy cost up to a fixed quote, decided in Six to ten weeks from proposal to approval is typical. Advisory engagements at this level then run eight to sixteen weeks, phased so that each deliverable is signed off before the next phase starts.
• LEO Grow Digital Voucher — Local Enterprise Office, 50% of eligible cost up to a fixed quote (minimum grant a fixed quote), decided in The Digital for Business project itself usually takes several weeks to schedule and complete. Voucher processing then varies by office — ask yours for its current turnaround, because the LEO network does not run to one national clock.
• LEO Digital for Business — Local Enterprise Office, Fully or heavily subsidised mentoring, subject to your LEO up to Subsidised consultancy — no cash award to the business, decided in Usually a few weeks to be scheduled, then the programme itself runs across several sessions over roughly four to eight weeks depending on the office and the consultant's diary.
• InterTradeIreland Innovation Boost — InterTradeIreland, Substantial co-funding of a graduate-led innovation project up to Scheme-dependent — confirm current levels with InterTradeIreland, decided in This is the slowest route on this page and the one with the highest capability payoff: expect several months to define the project, secure a partner, gain approval and recruit, then a project running over roughly twelve to eighteen months.
• European Digital Innovation Hub — Test Before Invest — European Digital Innovation Hub, Services provided free or at heavily subsidised rates up to Subsidised services rather than a cash grant, decided in Engagement typically begins within weeks of a maturity assessment, with proof-of-concept work running over one to three months depending on data readiness.
• Revenue R&D Tax Credit for AI development — Revenue, 30% credit on qualifying R&D expenditure up to No cap — proportional to qualifying spend, decided in The claim follows your corporation tax cycle, so the important work is contemporaneous. Start the record-keeping at project kick-off; deciding to claim at year end and reconstructing the evidence afterwards is how good projects fail a Revenue query.
• Local Enterprise Office Priming Grant — Local Enterprise Office, Up to 50% of eligible cost up to Up to a fixed quote (most awards are far smaller), decided in Allow two to four weeks to prepare a credible plan, then four to ten weeks to evaluation committee depending on the office's meeting cycle. In our experience the plan, not the paperwork, is the slow part.
• Local Enterprise Office Business Expansion Grant — Local Enterprise Office, Up to 50% of eligible cost up to Up to a fixed quote (most awards are far smaller), decided in Typically six to twelve weeks from first adviser conversation to a letter of offer, driven by the office's committee schedule rather than by processing time.
• Local Enterprise Office Feasibility Study Grant — Local Enterprise Office, Typically up to 50% of eligible cost (higher in some regions) up to Commonly a fixed quote; some offices publish a higher regional ceiling, decided in Four to eight weeks to approval in most offices, with the study itself usually running three to eight weeks after that.
• Technical Assistance for Micro Exporters (TAME) — Local Enterprise Office, Up to 50% of eligible cost up to a fixed quote, decided in Usually three to six weeks to a decision. Apply well in advance of any trade fair deadline, because stand deposits paid early are commonly ruled ineligible.
• Local Enterprise Office Energy Efficiency Grant — Local Enterprise Office, Up to 75% of eligible cost up to a fixed quote, decided in Typically three to eight weeks to a decision; availability can be call-based, so check whether the scheme is currently open in your county.
• Green for Micro — Local Enterprise Office, 100% funded advisory (no cash award) up to Two days of free consultancy, decided in Usually a few weeks from application to consultant assignment, depending on intake.
• Local Enterprise Office Mentoring and Training Supports — Local Enterprise Office, Heavily subsidised; many programmes are free up to No cash award — subsidised places and mentor hours, decided in Immediate to a few weeks, depending on the course calendar.
• Microfinance Ireland Business Loan — Microfinance Ireland, Loan finance, not grant aid up to Up to a fixed quote, decided in Commonly ten working days to a decision once a complete application is submitted.
• Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher — Enterprise Ireland, 100% of the voucher value toward a registered knowledge provider up to a fixed quote, decided in Calls open periodically, so timing matters more than processing speed. Allow a few weeks after the call closes for a decision, then the provider's own project schedule.
• Enterprise Ireland Agile Innovation Fund — Enterprise Ireland, Up to 50% of eligible project cost up to Projects up to approximately a fixed quote in total cost, decided in Designed to be faster than the standard R&D Fund — typically weeks to a decision on a complete application.
• Enterprise Ireland Market Discovery Fund — Enterprise Ireland, Up to 50% of eligible market research and market-entry cost up to Tiered by ambition; published tiers have run to a fixed quote, decided in Commonly six to twelve weeks to decision depending on tier and adviser support.
• Enterprise Ireland Key Manager Grant — Enterprise Ireland, Typically up to 50% of the manager's salary cost over a defined period up to Published support has run to a fixed quote per manager, decided in Typically six to twelve weeks to approval; plan recruitment around it rather than ahead of it.
• Enterprise Ireland GreenStart — Enterprise Ireland, Published support has run to 80% of consultancy cost up to a fixed quote, decided in Usually four to eight weeks to approval, with the assignment itself running a few weeks.
• Enterprise Ireland Digital Transition Fund — Enterprise Ireland, Up to 50% of eligible cost for most applicants up to Varies by call and project scale, decided in Typically eight to sixteen weeks end to end, dominated by the quality of the business case.
• Skillnet Ireland Subsidised Training — Skillnet Ireland, Typically 30–70% subsidy on course fees, varying by network and programme up to No cash award — subsidised places, decided in Days to weeks, driven by course scheduling rather than approval.
• JobsPlus Employer Incentive — Department of Social Protection, Cash incentive paid monthly in arrears over two years up to a fixed quote per eligible recruit over two years, decided in Payments begin after the application is processed and continue monthly while the employment continues.
• Údarás na Gaeltachta Business Supports — Údarás na Gaeltachta, Varies by support — capital, employment and feasibility instruments up to Project dependent, decided in Comparable to other agency capital supports — allow two to three months.
• SEAI Support Scheme for Energy Audits — SEAI, Voucher covering the cost of a professional energy audit up to a fixed quote voucher, decided in Typically a few weeks to voucher issue, then the auditor's own schedule.
• InterTradeIreland Acumen Programme — InterTradeIreland, Published support has covered around half of eligible salary and marketing cost up to Varies by call — published support has run to five figures, decided in Allow two to three months from enquiry to approval, depending on call timing.

How the funding rates compare

EI Digital Discovery: Up to 80% of eligible consultancy cost, ceiling a fixed quote, awarded by Enterprise Ireland. Digital Process Innovation: Typically up to 50% of eligible project cost, ceiling a fixed quote, awarded by Enterprise Ireland. EI Strategic Consultancy: Typically up to 50% of eligible consultancy cost, ceiling a fixed quote, awarded by Enterprise Ireland. Grow Digital Voucher: 50% of eligible cost, ceiling a fixed quote (minimum grant a fixed quote), awarded by Local Enterprise Office. Digital for Business: Fully or heavily subsidised mentoring, subject to your LEO, ceiling Subsidised consultancy — no cash award to the business, awarded by Local Enterprise Office. ITI Innovation Boost: Substantial co-funding of a graduate-led innovation project, ceiling Scheme-dependent — confirm current levels with InterTradeIreland, awarded by InterTradeIreland. EDIH Test Before Invest: Services provided free or at heavily subsidised rates, ceiling Subsidised services rather than a cash grant, awarded by European Digital Innovation Hub. R&D Tax Credit: 30% credit on qualifying R&D expenditure, ceiling No cap — proportional to qualifying spend, awarded by Revenue. LEO Priming Grant: Up to 50% of eligible cost, ceiling Up to a fixed quote (most awards are far smaller), awarded by Local Enterprise Office. LEO Business Expansion: Up to 50% of eligible cost, ceiling Up to a fixed quote (most awards are far smaller), awarded by Local Enterprise Office. LEO Feasibility Study: Typically up to 50% of eligible cost (higher in some regions), ceiling Commonly a fixed quote; some offices publish a higher regional ceiling, awarded by Local Enterprise Office. TAME Export Grant: Up to 50% of eligible cost, ceiling a fixed quote, awarded by Local Enterprise Office. LEO Energy Efficiency: Up to 75% of eligible cost, ceiling a fixed quote, awarded by Local Enterprise Office. Green for Micro: 100% funded advisory (no cash award), ceiling Two days of free consultancy, awarded by Local Enterprise Office. LEO Mentoring & Training: Heavily subsidised; many programmes are free, ceiling No cash award — subsidised places and mentor hours, awarded by Local Enterprise Office. Microfinance Ireland Loan: Loan finance, not grant aid, ceiling Up to a fixed quote, awarded by Microfinance Ireland. Innovation Voucher: 100% of the voucher value toward a registered knowledge provider, ceiling a fixed quote, awarded by Enterprise Ireland. Agile Innovation Fund: Up to 50% of eligible project cost, ceiling Projects up to approximately a fixed quote in total cost, awarded by Enterprise Ireland. Market Discovery Fund: Up to 50% of eligible market research and market-entry cost, ceiling Tiered by ambition; published tiers have run to a fixed quote, awarded by Enterprise Ireland. Key Manager Grant: Typically up to 50% of the manager's salary cost over a defined period, ceiling Published support has run to a fixed quote per manager, awarded by Enterprise Ireland. GreenStart: Published support has run to 80% of consultancy cost, ceiling a fixed quote, awarded by Enterprise Ireland. Digital Transition Fund: Up to 50% of eligible cost for most applicants, ceiling Varies by call and project scale, awarded by Enterprise Ireland. Skillnet Ireland: Typically 30–70% subsidy on course fees, varying by network and programme, ceiling No cash award — subsidised places, awarded by Skillnet Ireland. JobsPlus: Cash incentive paid monthly in arrears over two years, ceiling a fixed quote per eligible recruit over two years, awarded by Department of Social Protection. Údarás na Gaeltachta: Varies by support — capital, employment and feasibility instruments, ceiling Project dependent, awarded by Údarás na Gaeltachta. SEAI Energy Audit: Voucher covering the cost of a professional energy audit, ceiling a fixed quote voucher, awarded by SEAI. ITI Acumen: Published support has covered around half of eligible salary and marketing cost, ceiling Varies by call — published support has run to five figures, awarded by InterTradeIreland.

Who decides, and what Digital Bridge is responsible for

Digital Bridge is a supplier. We do not administer or approve any of these schemes and a refusal is a decision of the funder, not of ours.

• Digital Bridge does not administer, assess, approve, pay or appeal any grant. Every decision is made by the funding body named on the scheme, under its own published rules.
• This section is general information, not financial, tax, legal or grant-writing advice. It is not an application, a pre-approval, or any form of assurance that you will be funded.
• Scheme rates, ceilings and eligibility change without notice and several supports are administered locally, so your Local Enterprise Office or agency may apply different rules to the ones published here. Confirm everything with the funder in writing before you commit.
• Our questionnaire is a deterministic guide based only on the answers you give. It cannot see your accounts, your sector classification, your state-aid position or your previous awards, so it can suggest a scheme you are ultimately found ineligible for.
• If an application is refused, delayed, reduced or clawed back, our fees for work you have instructed remain payable. We recommend you do not instruct chargeable work until your funder confirms in writing what it will support.
• Costs incurred before a funder receives your application are almost always ineligible. Timing is your responsibility, and we will always tell you when we think you should wait.

Accuracy and review cadence

Reviewed quarterly. Next scheduled review: November 2026. All figures on this page reflect published scheme parameters as at 2026-08-18 and each scheme page links to the official source. Digital Bridge is a supplier, not the awarding body. Eligibility, approval and payment are decided solely by the funding body named on each scheme. Figures below are the published scheme parameters as at the review date shown, and net costs are arithmetic illustrations of the published rate applied to our published prices. Always confirm current rules with the funder before you commit to any spend, because expenditure incurred before an application is received is almost always ineligible.

Which grant should an Irish business actually start with?

There is no single right answer, because Irish grant support is split across bodies with different remits: Local Enterprise Offices for micro-enterprises, Enterprise Ireland for its client companies, and InterTradeIreland for cross-border projects. A business under 18 months old with 10 or fewer staff usually looks first at the LEO Priming Grant; an established micro-enterprise growing employment looks at Business Expansion; a company wanting to test a technical question cheaply looks at the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher; a business exploring a new export market looks at Market Discovery or TAME depending on scale. The most common mistake is applying to whichever scheme was mentioned last, rather than the one that matches the applicant's trading age, sector and client status with the relevant body. Read the specific scheme page for the fit, not the headline figure, and confirm eligibility with the awarding body before spending anything, since committed spend before approval disqualifies most of these supports outright.

What do most applications get wrong before they even reach assessment?

Across nearly every scheme on this site, the same handful of errors recur: work or spend committed before written approval, a business plan or project description that reads as a shopping list rather than answering a specific funder question, and no measurable baseline for whatever improvement is being claimed. Preparing tax clearance, a written plan or scope, quotations for each cost line, and a plain statement of what problem the funding solves will cover most of what an evaluator asks for, regardless of which body administers the scheme. Digital Bridge's own projects — websites from €1,200, growth builds from €2,500, e-commerce from €6,000, AI and automation work from €2,500 — map to different schemes' eligible-cost categories, and we quote each engagement with the itemisation a grant application typically needs. We are a supplier only; every decision on eligibility, approval and award amount rests with the relevant Local Enterprise Office, Enterprise Ireland or InterTradeIreland, and nothing on this site is a guarantee of funding.

Which grant scheme actually fits an AI project rather than a website?

This is the question we get most from owner-managers who have read about supports but can’t work out where an AI tool sits inside the various schemes. Most Local Enterprise Office and Enterprise Ireland supports were built around digitalisation broadly, so an AI chatbot, an automated quoting system or a document-processing workflow can often be framed as digital transformation rather than a separate category. The trick is in how the project is described in your application: assessors respond to clear business problems and measurable outcomes, not technical jargon about models or automation platforms. We help clients translate what they actually want built — fewer manual quotes, faster response times, less admin — into language that matches a scheme’s stated priorities. We don’t chase grants for their own sake, and we won’t promise a specific scheme will approve your application, because that decision always sits with the funding body. What we can do is scope the AI system properly first, so that whether funding comes through or not, the project stands on its own commercial merit.

Do I need the AI system built before I apply, or can funding come first?

Sequencing trips up a lot of applicants. Some schemes want a detailed quote or proposal attached before they’ll consider an application, which means you need a scoped project — not just an idea — before you approach your Local Enterprise Office. Others allow a more exploratory application where the specifics get finalised afterwards. Because the rules vary by scheme and can change between funding rounds, we don’t advise guessing. Our usual approach is to run a paid discovery assessment first, which gives you a written scope, an honest view of feasibility, and a cost estimate you can actually attach to a grant application if one is available to you. That document tends to carry more weight with assessors than a vague description, because it shows the project has been thought through rather than sketched on the back of an envelope. If no suitable grant exists for your case, you’ve still got a proper specification to work on a fixed quote, and you can decide whether to proceed on your own budget or wait for a future call.