O’Shea is Working to Support Small & Medium Enterprises in Cork North West

Over 95% of all companies in Ireland are small and medium sized businesses with SMEs employing two thirds of the workforce.

Fine Gael is committed to supporting our small and medium sized enterprises to grow and to thrive. In recent weeks, we have taken a number of steps to support small businesses including:

Retaining Statutory Sick Pay at 5 Days

Fine Gael has delivered on our commitment made during the General Election campaign that we would retain Statutory Sick Pay at 5 days rather than increasing it to 10 Days.

Ensure any increases to the minimum wage are sustainable

We understand the pressure small businesses are facing in terms of costs. There have been significant increases to the minimum wage in recent years. We believe that any future increases must be fair and sustainable which is why we have adjusted the implementation timeline for the Living Wage to 2029.

Increased Cost of Business Scheme & Power Up Grant

Fine Gael introduced the Increased Cost of Business Scheme and the Power Up Grant to assist SMEs with inflationary pressures and the increased costs associated with doing businesses. While over €400m has already been paid out to SMEs, we know that some small businesses were unable to access these grants due to the incorrect classification of their business type.

We are now introducing an appeals mechanism to ensure these businesses can avail of the grant. If you are one of the impacted businesses, your Local Authority will be in touch with you directly.

Small and medium sized businesses are the heart of our communities. They fuel local economies and provide good, stable jobs. Fine Gael backs you and your business, and we will continue to do so.

John Paul