Green for Business assists businesses with 1 - 50 employees in lowering their carbon footprint, reducing costs, and improving the environmental profile of the business in the marketplace.
The Programme was designed to allow eligible companies to avail of technical and/or advisory supports from external experts across a broad range of activities from resource efficiency to understanding their carbon footprint to implementing an environmental management system.
The aim of Green for Business is to help you examine and identify cost savings and market opportunities within your business. This is achieved by looking at your business from an environmental perspective. Improving environmental performance through greater resource efficiency, can help your business achieve competitive advantage.
Projects may vary in scope anything from:
- looking at your resource use
- identifying opportunities for cost and emission savings
- understanding your carbon footprint
- implementing an environmental management system
- greening of your product or business to adapt to the changing marketplace.
The programme will help you to make more informative decisions to assist your business to reduce costs, lower your carbon footprint as well as improve the environmental profile of the business in the marketplace.
Eligible Businesses
- Small enterprises (employing between 1 and 50).
- who are not currently clients of Enterprise Ireland or IDA.
- who are established, registered, and operate within the area of the Local Enterprise Office.
- who have a turnover in excess of €30,000 annually and the business is trading in excess of 6 months.
Ineligible Businesses
- Are operating in the coal or steel sector.
- Are active in the primary agricultural, fishery or aquaculture sectors.
- Are involved in activities that Local Enterprise Offices considers as ineligible or as involving an unacceptable reputational risk. Ineligible activities include activities relating to:
- The gambling sector, including ‘gaming’ (as defined in the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956).
- Adult entertainment.
- Tobacco and tobacco related products.
- Cannabis-based products which are not authorised as medicines.
Note: This is not an exhaustive list and Enterprise Ireland has a dynamic policy position on several activities. Any queries in relation to the eligibility of an activity will be directed to the Enterprise Ireland Policy department who will assess the case.
The Green for Business scheme falls under De Minimis rules relating to previous state support:
- De Minimis Aid is small amounts of State Aid given to an enterprise which cannot exceed €300,000 over any three fiscal years to any company irrespective of size and location. De Minimis Aid can come from any State body, agency or department.
- Please note that a false declaration to show a figure under the threshold of €300,000 could later mean that you would have to pay back the grant aid with interest.