Ireland: government sets EUR 5 mln ecommerce voucher scheme for small businesses

The scheme has the voluntary support of companies such as Google, the online payment gateway Realex, PayPal and Facebook.

The Trading Online Voucher scheme is designed to help small companies access the opportunities open to them by trading online. This will help companies right across Ireland to access new markets so that they can grow and create more jobs.

The National Digital Strategy target is to get 2000 SMEs trading online over a two year period, starting from 2014. Under the scheme, vouchers of up to EUR 2,500 will be available to businesses who demonstrate that they have a credible plan to trading online. It is estimated that about 21% of Irish businesses currently do not have the facility to transact online.

The value of Ireland’s internet economy is forecast to grow from its current level of EUR 8.4 billion to an estimated EUR 21.1 billion by 2020 with consumer spending contributing 60% (EUR 13 billion) to this figure. Currently, EUR 3.5 billion of spending by Irish digital consumers go abroad year-on-year, meaning Irish SMEs are letting business outside the domestic economy.