Criteria for Budget 2027's rural pub support scheme to be based on turnover

The €15m scheme is expected to open for applicants on July 1 next year

Enterprise minister Peter Burke said he will be looking potentially having a 'remit scheme which could most likely track the licences of publicans'.

Enterprise minister Peter Burke has said he expects the criteria for the new €15m support scheme for rural pubs to be based on turnover, with the aim for the scheme to be ready by July 1 next year.

As part of the budget, the Department of Enterprise, Tourism, and Employment was allocated €1.3485bn — an increase of €57.5m year-on-year — with €638.5m going towards current expenditure and €710m to capital.

In addition to the €15m fund to support pubs, the budget also allocated €3m for the establishment of the landmark Start Up Ireland initiative, €20m for the launch of the €500m Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme, €4.5m for Local Enterprise Office, as well as €6.65m for Fáilte Ireland tourism product and destination development in the regions.

In addition, there was a €1bn Ireland’s Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) start-up and scaling investment programme announced for up to 2030. The funding will be in co-operation with Enterprise Ireland to provide a long-term source of capital for Irish scaling companies through equity and debt investments.

Other budget measures announced include an increase in the national minimum wage of 79c, an increase to PRSI thresholds, as well as a cut in the capital gain tax rate from 33% to 31%.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mr Burke said the rural pubs are a “focal point for much of society to interact” and have been a “key area to combat social isolation”.

However, the number of rural pubs has been steadily shrinking. Rural Ireland has seen 2,200 pubs disappear since 2005. In Cork, there were 1,221 pubs in 2005, but in the two decades since it has fallen to 821.

Mr Burke said he plans to have the scheme ready for applicants by July 1 and he will be looking potentially having a “remit scheme which could most likely track the licences of publicans”.

"If you look at the licenses that are given out, there are a number of tiers or categories based on turnover, which dictate essentially what size the pub is,” he said.

"If you have [a pub] in the second tier, it's about €380,000 turnover,” he said, adding that roughly 70% of rural pubs are captured within that tier.

"I want to ensure that it is getting to our smaller type of publicans that are under pressure, that are facing very significant viability challenges. 

"A scheme will be crafted around that, looking at licensing laws, turnover, and also looking at environmental aid, how we make them more sustainable by encouraging the circular economy and recycling,” he said.

News of the support scheme was welcomed by the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland.

Minimum wage and PRSI

While the minister sold the budget as a pro-enterprise budget, the Small Firms Association (SFA) was critical of it, particularly the increase to the minimum wage which now sets it at €14.94.

To mitigate the rising minimum wage, the Government raised the employer threshold for PRSI from €552 to €600 per week.

However, the SFA had been seeking a temporary rebate on PRSI to help companies absorb the rising costs.

In response to this, Mr Burke said that firms will not be paying as much PRSI as they would have if it had tracked the increases in the minimum wage.

“That will help them a little bit. It's not going the full way but it is an assistance to dealing with the increase in the minimum wage,” he said.