Your Questions Answered: Night-Time Economy Grassroots Venue Support Scheme 2026

The Night-Time Economy Grassroots Venue Support Scheme (GVSS) 2026 opened for applications here from 12pm on 6th March 2026 and will remain open until 30th March 2026. Applications after this date will not be accepted.

Please read the Scheme’s guidelines carefully before applying.

Please refer to the scheme’s guidelines under Eligibility Criteria.

Please refer to the scheme’s guidelines under Eligible Costs.

Yes, you can book an established artist, but you must also programme at least one grassroots artist as support on the same night. You must provide evidence of this on drawdown by submitting a poster and/or invoice relating to the programming and payment of the grassroots artist. You need to clearly demonstrate that a grassroots artists supported the established/known artist. If sufficient evidence is not submitted you risk not being paid for the event when drawing down the funds.

Yes, you can charge up 25% of the full grant allocated for promoter costs. The invoice should detail a full listing of all gigs booked (including hours where possible), cost per gig and a paid invoice should be submitted and signed.

The total allocation for this scheme €1 million. This scheme will operate in two separate funding Streams. Stream A will operate with a total fund of €800,000 and Stream B will operate with a total fund of €200,000.

Due to the high volume of applications anticipated, it may not be possible to allocate funding or the maximum grant to all eligible applicants. The Department and an independent panel will assess all applications.

All applications received by the closing date will be assessed initially by the Department to ensure that the eligibility criteria under Stream A or Stream B are met. In addition, applications will be assessed on proven track record, quality of proposal and financial compliance.

If your application is deemed to be ineligible, we will let you know. We will aim to do this as soon as possible. If your application is ineligible, this means that we cannot process it any further and we will not consider it for funding.

Applications which are incomplete or contain insufficient details regarding the proposed events will be deemed ineligible and the application will be declined.

Applications after the 30th March 2026 will not be considered.

Successful applicants will be notified by email through the Submit.com application portal.

Grant payments will be made to approved applicants once all events have taken place and a drawdown request has been submitted to the Department, to include paid invoices and evidence of payment by electronic transfer for all eligible expenses. Please refer to Appendix A of this document for an example of what should be submitted to ensure prompt payment.

Grantees under Stream A may submit two drawdown requests. The first drawdown must be received no later than Friday 21st August 2026. Once this deadline has passed all funding must be drawn down as one payment request by the final drawdown date of 20th November 2026.

Grantees under Stream B may only submit one drawdown. This drawdown must be received by Friday 20th November 2026 to ensure payment. There is no option for Applicants under Stream B to draw down funding in tranches.

Please Note: Prefunding is not available for this Scheme. Grant payments will be made on the basis of paid invoices submitted (matured liabilities basis).

Applicants applying for grants under Stream A may apply for a minimum grant of €7,000 and a maximum grant of €20,000 in funding. Stream B may apply for a maximum grant of €8,000 in funding.

Stream A and Stream B, 90% of all eligible documented costs will be funded, up to a maximum of the allocated grant amount. The grantee must pay the remaining 10% of eligible costs, in addition to all ineligible costs.

Stream A Example:

Estimated total eligible cost of hosting the proposed events = €25,000

90% of €25,000 = €22,500

Max Grant awarded = €20,000

The Applicant should apply for €20,000 in funding.

The Applicant is required to fund the remaining 10%, i.e. €5,000.

Stream B Example:

Total eligible costs submitted at drawdown = €10,000

90% of €10,000 = €9,000

Max Grant awarded = €8,000

The Applicant is required to fund the remaining 10%, i.e. €1000

Invoices and bank transfers must be submitted for the total eligible cost of hosting the events. All costs not eligible for funding must be covered by the grantee separately.

Following completion of the events and submission by the applicant of a drawdown request via the Submit.com platform, the drawdown request will be reviewed and the grant will be paid to the business’ bank account by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), using the bank details supplied on the application form.

As set out in the guidelines, the scheme operates on the basis of paid invoices submitted. Businesses are required to retain all evidence and documentation which supports the basis for making a claim under the Scheme as this may be requested by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport under future eligibility checks.

The Department will arrange to carry out spot-checks to ensure compliance with the qualifying criteria and for auditing purposes.

Please read the guidelines before starting your application. The application portal for this Scheme will be made available on the Department’s website at 12pm on 6th March 2026.

Applicants can apply here by creating an account and clicking on the “New” button. Please ensure to submit the application rather than leaving it in draft form. You should receive a confirmation email that the application has been submitted. Applications will be assessed for eligibility by the Department in order of the date and time they were received.

Successful applications will be notified by email of their allocated grant amount and can then proceed to run the events. Once all events have taken place, applicants can apply to draw down the grant using the drawdown guidelines.

In submitting the application, the applicant will be confirming that the application meets the criteria set out in the Guidelines for the Scheme.

Draft or incomplete applications will not be considered.

In order to allow us to check your tax clearance status you must provide a Tax Clearance Access Number (TCAN) along with your tax ID (requested in an earlier field). Your TCAN is provided upon successful application for Tax Clearance from Revenue. The Department must be able to verify the tax clearance status of all successful applicants in order to make payment to them. Your tax clearance status will be checked when assessing your eligibility for the scheme, and again before approving your payment. Your TCAN is not the same number as your tax ID.

Details of individual awards may be published on the Department’s website and made available through Parliamentary Questions. This will include the name under which the business activity is carried out, the county in which the beneficiary is located, and the grant amount.

The closing date for receipt of applications is 30th March 2026.

This scheme will operate with a fund of €1 million.

Stage 1:

Stream A - Assessment of eligibility

Applicants are required to upload the following documents:

• Images demonstrating stage area and equipment as outlined in the guidelines.
• Evidence of a track record of holding ticketed grassroots music events over two years from 2024-2025 inclusive, including dates/photos of events, promotional material and ticket sales.
• Material submitted by successful applicants of the Grassroots Music Venue Support Scheme in respect of events in 2024 will be considered.

Stream B - Assessment of eligibility

Applicants are required to upload the following documents:

• Images demonstrating stage area and equipment as outlined in the guidelines.
• Evidence of a track record of holding ticketed grassroots live events in 2025, including dates/photos of events, promotional material and ticket sales.

Stage 2: Request to draw down funding

Once all events have taken place you will be required to upload the following on Submit.com.

• Paid invoices (marked ‘Paid’ by the supplier or supported by a receipt)
• Evidence of electronic bank transfers for all transactions being claimed for
• Promotional material and images of events

A sample of what is required on drawdown can be found in Appendix A.

A typed signature should be provided where indicated on the last page of the application form. You will then receive an email from submit.com with a link which you must click on in order to authenticate your signature.

An appeal may be made by an applicant if the applicant considers that the process for reviewing their application was not adhered to.

The applicant must be in receipt of a decision email in order to make an appeal. An appeal must be made within 5 working days of the date on the decision email. Appeals submitted after this date will not be accepted.

It is necessary to clearly set out the grounds for your appeal in an email which should be sent to the Night-Time Economy Appeals Officer at gmvss.appeals@ccs.gov.ie stating “Appeal” along with your application number in the subject line of the email.

The body of the email should include:

• full contact details for the applicant and application number

• the grounds on which the applicant believes the process for reviewing their application was not adhered to. The applicant must include specific reasons or evidence to support the appeal

The applicant will receive an acknowledgement email from the GVSS Appeals Officer or from a person delegated to represent them in their absence within 5 working days. The appeal will then be considered and a decision will issue to the applicant within 20 working days following the acknowledgement. This decision will be binding and will not be subject to any further appeals. Where any delay is anticipated the applicant will be informed in writing of the extended timescale.

All queries can be emailed to GMVSS@ccs.gov.ie . If you have an application number, please remember to include this in all correspondence.

Please note that this document may be updated from time to time.

Example of Drawdown Submission:

To help with the processing of the grant, we require 3 items:

1. The table on Submit.com filled in with details of the Record number/event/band name/cost ex Vat/cost inc. Vat or an equivalent file uploaded to submit.com
2. Invoice named with the record number event&band&payee name

e.g. Record 1 Event with rockband – Joe Bloggs.pdf. If there is no invoice number, mark the record number on the invoice. This will help us match the records.

1. EFT Record – transaction report highlighted with payee name and record number written beside it.

Sample of a submission:

1. Fill in the table in submit or submit a file with the following:

2. Send in the matching invoices. Based on the table information above, we should receive 2 invoices named:

Record 1-We Rock-GerryByrne.pdf

Record 2-SoundHire-PaddyMurphy.pdf

3. Send in your EFT records. Based on the sample above, there are 2 records to be highlighted as record 1 and record 2 on the transaction file. We should also be able to cross reference the company or payee name noted on the table. All other personal information can be redacted on the EFT Transaction Report.