The Department of Enterprise has beefed up payments under its Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS) to entice more farmers and businesses to apply for the €1.25bn allocated in Budget 2023 to help them cope with rising energy costs.

TBESS allows for a portion of electricity and gas cost rises to be claimed back on farms but after a slow take up on scheme funding, Government has sought to increase compensation rates and lower the bar on farm and business eligibility criteria.

The monthly limit on farmer claims has been upped from €10,000 to €15,000 and this limit can still be claimed on business carried out on up to three locations, leaving the maximum cap sitting at €45,0000 where business is carried on three or more locations.

For electricity and gas used from March to May, the scheme will pay a higher rate of compensation to farmers than had previously been offered under the scheme.

Half of the extra per unit costs on bills will be compensated whereas only 40% of the additional energy costs were covered from when the scheme first opened.

Eligible bills paid between 1 September 2022 until 31 May 2023 will now be entitled to compensation under the scheme

More farmers will now be eligible for payments, as a lower per unit cost increase now applies to gain eligibility for compensation for high energy costs.

Farmers must now prove that their electricity or gas per unit costs were over 30% higher on the corresponding period last year, instead of the 50% which had previously been the case. This lower 30% per unit rise threshold will apply to bills paid from September until the scheme closes.

It had been due to close at the end of the month but has been extended for an extra three months, as much of its funding allocation has yet to be drawn down.

Eligible bills paid between 1 September 2022 until 31 May 2023 will now be entitled to compensation under the scheme. All of these changes remain subject to State aid approval from the European Commission.

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar encouraged farmers to apply for the scheme on Tuesday, saying that farmers could draw down thousands over the coming weeks.

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