Access Advice: GreenStart
A grant of up to €5,000 towards external consultancy that helps eligible Irish businesses plan emissions cuts and improve environmental management.
Denne finansieringsmuligheten er foreløpig beskrevet på engelsk.
GreenStart is the sustainability consultancy option under Enterprise Ireland’s Access Advice grant. Enterprise Ireland reimburses up to 80% of eligible external consultancy costs, capped at €5,000 per project. Costs are calculated excluding VAT, and you must pay the consultant before claiming. You cover the remaining cost and VAT.
Eligible consultancy costs are limited to the first €900 per consultant day, including travel and other expenses. The 80% grant rate applies to these eligible costs, subject to the overall €5,000 ceiling. A typical in-company assignment covers seven days and costs €6,300. Consultant market rates may be higher. The €5,000 ceiling still applies when more than one consultant firm works on the project.
The assignment can produce a sustainability or emissions-reduction plan, an environmental management and reporting system, or plans to reduce waste and keep materials in use. It can also cover carbon footprints, greener procurement and packaging, sustainable logistics, biodiversity and staff or customer engagement.
General market research, IT implementation, financial or HR consultancy and health-and-safety training are excluded. The grant does not pay for equipment, materials, design, installation, commissioning or separately claimed travel and subsistence. Energy audits required by law are excluded.
Eligibility
The agency client routes cover eligible high-potential start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises and large companies that are clients of Enterprise Ireland or Údarás na Gaeltachta. Your agency assesses both your company and the proposed assignment before an award. Potential Enterprise Ireland clients can start with its client enquiry form; eligible companies may also access GreenStart through their Local Enterprise Office.
High-potential start-up is an agency client category based on the business's growth potential. Enterprise Ireland describes it as start-ups with the potential to create 10 jobs and €1 million in sales within three years. Those are expected growth outcomes. For GreenStart, the company must be a client in the relevant agency category.
For the Údarás route, the small and medium-sized enterprise category requires at least 10 existing employees. Its high-potential start-up client category is a separate route; the SME employee minimum does not apply to that category. Large client companies are also listed. Non-clients with one to 50 employees in manufacturing or internationally traded services should contact Údarás at eolas@udaras.ie. Other Údarás grants may affect eligibility.
Choose an independent sustainability consultant. They may be on Enterprise Ireland's Green Service Providers Directory or off it, but you must show that they are qualified and have successfully completed similar assignments. Directory listing is not a guarantee of suitability. Direct or indirect employees or directors of your company cannot provide the funded services; directors', shareholders' and employee time or costs cannot be claimed as consultancy.
For Enterprise Ireland awards, do not reuse costs already claimed from Enterprise Ireland, another government agency, the EU or any other grant. You can submit one claim per grant, and your tax clearance must be valid both when you submit it and when the grant is paid.
Projects funded through the Climate Planning Fund must comply with EU and national environmental law and the “do no significant harm” rules. These prevent the funded activity from causing significant environmental damage. Fossil-fuel activities are excluded, including later uses of those fuels, such as using them to generate heat or power, except qualifying natural-gas power or heat projects and associated infrastructure meeting Annex III of the technical guidance.
Activities covered by the EU Emissions Trading System, which accounts for emissions through allowances, must project emissions below the applicable benchmark used to allocate free emissions allowances under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/447. If projected emissions are below that benchmark but not substantially below it, explain why. Landfills and harmful long-term waste disposal are excluded. Incineration and mechanical-biological waste treatment, which combines waste sorting and biological treatment, are excluded with limited exceptions:
- Incineration plants exclusively treating non-recyclable hazardous waste are excepted. At existing incinerators, supported improvements may increase energy efficiency, capture exhaust gases for storage or use, or recover materials from ash.
- At existing mechanical-biological plants, improvements may increase energy efficiency or convert operations to recycle separated waste, compost bio-waste or digest bio-waste without oxygen.
Those improvements at existing plants must not increase waste-processing capacity or extend plant life, and require plant-level evidence.
How to apply
- Status
- Løpende søknader
- Vilkår for søknadsrunden
- Agency eligibility assessment is required.
- For the Údarás route, an assignment started before application is ineligible.
- Incur expenditure and submit a valid claim by the final date in the Letter of Offer.
If you are an Enterprise Ireland client, discuss the proposed assignment with your Client Advisor; the official contact page can connect you with them. If you are not a client, use the linked Become a client form to introduce an established, export-ready technology, manufacturing or internationally traded services company. Submitting that enquiry does not secure a grant. Údarás clients should contact their Development Advisor, who can send the application form after discussing the project.
For the Údarás route, provide your organisation's carbon footprint using Climate Toolkit 4 Business, the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, ISO 14064-1 or a similar method. An assignment already started before submitting the application is ineligible. To avoid committing your own money before an award, wait for your agency's written offer before starting work.
The claim steps below apply to Enterprise Ireland awards. For a Údarás award, follow the offer and instructions from your Development Advisor.
Check the Letter of Offer for the approved costs, grant amount, project number and final claim date. By that date, all expenditure must have been incurred and a valid claim submitted. Pay the consultancy invoices and download fresh forms from the official claims page.
Complete the Excel claim workbook and Word progress report, describing objectives, activities, challenges, results and expected benefits. Include the consultant's report if one was provided. Number each invoice and corresponding bank or company credit-card statement so they match the claim entries. An invoice marked “paid” or a supplier statement is not proof of payment. Convert foreign-currency costs using the payment-date exchange rate.
Have the managing director or one director print the Director Statement on company headed paper, sign it and scan it as a PDF. Keep the claim worksheets in Excel format. Email the workbook, signed statement, progress report and supporting evidence to IndustryGrantClaims@enterprise-ireland.com, with Access Advice, your company name and project number in the subject. Use the client number (CES ID) in Schedule A when encrypting files.
Supply your tax reference and tax-clearance access numbers. If this is your first claim, bank details have changed, or they have not been verified within two years, email bank.confirmation@enterprise-ireland.com with a redacted statement showing the company name as in the Letter of Offer, bank name and IBAN. Enterprise Ireland checks the evidence and report before deciding what to pay; an incomplete or late claim may be invalid. Approved payment goes to the company by bank transfer.