Recent News

May 2009
European Commission approves Irish scheme to grant aid of up to €500,000 to businesses in 2009 and 2010

The European Commission has authorised, under EC Treaty state aid rules, a temporary scheme to help businesses to deal with the current severe economic downturn. Irish authorities may grant aid of up to €500,000 per firm in 2009 and 2010 to businesses facing funding problems because of the current credit crunch which were not in difficulty on July 1, 2008. The aid will be granted in the form of direct grants, reimbursable grants, interest rate subsidies, and subsidised public loans. As such, the scheme meets the conditions of the Commission’s Temporary Framework giving Member States additional scope to facilitate access to financing in the present economic and financial crisis. In particular, it is limited in time and scope. It is therefore compatible with Article 87(3)(b) EC, which permits aid to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State. Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said "The Irish scheme will help businesses affected by the current credit crunch without unduly distorting competition”. The scheme is intended to increase possibilities to give timely and well targeted aid to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies. For further information, please contact: John Gaffney or your regular contact partner at O’Flynn Exhams.