Tánaiste Simon Harris and Minister Peter Burke publish joint research on impact of Enterprise supports
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Ó: An Roinn Airgeadais; An Roinn Fiontar, Turasóireachta agus Fostaíochta
- Foilsithe: 28 Eanáir 2026
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 28 Eanáir 2026
- ‘Promoting Enterprise: An analysis of State support measures’ to help inform future Budget decisions
- More than 200 supports for businesses considered as part of analysis
Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris, and Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke, have published a new joint economic research paper: Promoting Enterprise: An analysis of State support measures.
The paper examines the combined level of enterprise direct expenditures (DEs) and tax expenditures (TEs) between 2013 and 2022.
The research provides a unique insight into the cumulative fiscal cost of enterprise supports, thereby helping to make informed decisions about future Budget allocations.
It covers the period of recovery following the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 years, when there was a significant increase in State support in 2020-2022.
While this study focuses on the fiscal cost, the broader policy rationale for the existence of such supports is to address market failures and deliver public goods that drive national strategically important objectives, including digital and green transitions, as well as the scaling of the domestic enterprise sector.
This research covers more than 200 supports spanning a broad array of interventions from the R&D Tax Credit and the Start Your Own Business (SYOB) programme to the Diesel Rebate Scheme and the Small Business Assistance Scheme for COVID (SBASC).
The findings show that enterprise-focused TEs and DEs represent a significant fiscal support to the domestic economy. The cumulative cost of these programmes is rising over time, albeit against the backdrop of a rapidly rising population and an expanding economy with both more enterprises and more people at work.
Over the period 2013 to 2022, the number employed in Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland assisted firms increased by 200,000 to reach 529,000. This included a net increase in agency-assisted jobs of 72,000 in the challenging COVID-19 period 2019-2022.
The research also shows that while TEs are fewer in number, TEs’ cost is close to three times more than DEs’ cost. A balanced approach towards the use of both enterprise support types can aid in monitoring the fiscal cost and in navigating future market failures.
Some of the main findings include:
- Enterprise-focused state supports increased from over €800 million in 2013 to €1.5 billion in 2019 pre-pandemic and increased further to over €2.4 billion in 2022.
- The cost in 2022 comprised €1.8 billion in TEs and €0.6 billion in DEs, including COVID-19 measures.
- The average outlay per claim on TEs was close to €110,000 per claim in 2022, while for DEs the figure was closer to €20,000 per award.
- The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic – and the energy price increases that followed from 2022 – heralded a sharp increase in the number and cost of reliefs to support vulnerable, but viable, business in Ireland through periods of acute disruption.
- On a comparative European Union basis, Ireland ranked 15th out of 27 countries in terms of State Aid spending per capita directed towards enterprises in 2022.
Commenting on the publication, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris TD stated:
“I welcome the publication of this joint research that provides a comprehensive analysis of the scale and impact of expenditure and State supports directed towards our enterprise sector.
“By examining both direct spending and taxation measures, we now have a better understanding of how our businesses operated and indeed adapted during critical periods such as the Covid-19 Pandemic.
“The competitiveness and performance of enterprises operating in Ireland is central to the aims of this Government, and the findings from this study will help inform future budgetary decisions, while also ensuring fiscal awareness and safeguarding against inefficiencies to protect the public finances.”
Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke TD also added:
“The research demonstrates the commitment of successive Irish Governments to investment through both tax measures and enterprise agency programmes to support specific public policy objectives, including helping entrepreneurs to start, grow and scale their businesses on international markets, to compete on the basis of cutting-edge R&D and innovation and to develop Ireland as a hub for high-technology and knowledge-intensive FDI.
“Ireland’s enterprise sector is not only a key generator of employment but also the main contributor of those Exchequer revenues which enable the State to deliver important public and social services.
The provision of these supports and programmes is important in enabling our SME sector to grow and prosper whilst also embedding resilience across the entire enterprise base and sustaining quality and well-paid jobs in all regions.”
ENDS