A grocer hit with consecutive electricity bills totalling €35,000 last year has been stunned with another €14,000 demand.
Gala shop owner Flora Crowe of Sixmilebridge in Clare told the Irish Mirror that State support for small businesses must continue past this month.
Her two-month electricity bills last year averaged around €6,500, but jumped to €15,782.23 in September, then €20,803.41 in November, and now over €14,000.
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Mum-of-three Flora, 34, who employs up to 22 people, said the charges are the “biggest electricity bills I have ever seen in my life”.
New business support measures were announced in Budget 2023, including the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS).
It is to help small businesses like Flora’s with the scheme covering as much as 40% of the increase in energy bills, up to €10,000 per month until February.
But Flora yesterday warned about the end of Government supports for small businesses, saying they need to be extended.
She has urged businesses to come together and told the Irish Mirror/ Star: “My new bill was €14,181.04.
“I got €5,500 back from the energy scheme to date. However, there is a very low uptake on the scheme on the ground.
“The process is complex with only 1,500 businesses in wholesale and retail taking up the scheme to date.
“Most retailers seem to not have access to their ROS account and have to send the data in to their accountants - but on the ground it seems people aren't doing it.
“We had until [yesterday] to claim for September. I think the Dept of Enterprise is unlikely to extend it beyond February due to the low numbers.
“I have been trying to rally other retailers to apply but they are finding it too complex.”
Flora claimed that the TBESS application process is so unwieldy that some shop owners are daunted from applying for the State-funded financial help.
The scheme is open to businesses which have experienced a 50% or more hike in their average energy unit price since 2021.
Claims must be made within four months of the end of the billing period.
Under the TBESS terms, businesses had until yesterday to claim for September.
But Revenue has announced that TBESS claims for last September can be made after the deadline.
A spokesperson said: “Revenue is allowing businesses additional time to submit their claims.”
He added: “Businesses which have registered for TBESS, and which are eligible, are encouraged to access the claims portal.
“This is via the eRepayments system on Revenue’s Online Service (ROS). Make a claim at the earliest opportunity.”
TBESS is due to end on February 28 and Flora fears the Department of Enterprise will not extend it due to low numbers.
Business owners, including Flora, have taken measures to push down their energy consumption, but still find their bills are over 115% higher than normal.
She has already warned that some shops could close with a loss of jobs and a consequent increase in unemployment figures.
Mother-of-three Flora, whose children are aged one, three and five, began working in the shop in 2008, took it over in 2019, and now employs between 11 and 22 people at different times of the year.
She said: “I fear that businesses will close, that business owners will not be able to keep going.
“We are all doing what we can to keep going, so the Government is helping, but we need more help.”
Finance Minister Michael McGrath declined in recent days to confirm which cost-of-living supports like TBESS could be extended.
But it is understood that TBESS is among measures that officials have considered extending until the summer.
The scheme’s eligibility, which requires businesses to show a 50% rise in the unit price of their energy costs, may also be reviewed downwards.
Minister McGrath said at the weekend: “The uptake on the energy support scheme for businesses has been lower than expected.
“In considering the future of the scheme, we are examining the reasons for this, including the eligibility criteria.”
Latest Revenue figures show that a total of 18,700 businesses across the country have registered for TBESS and over 11,2000 claims have been approved.
The approved claims amount to €22.7 million and €18.2 million has been paid out.
As much as €1.3bn was set aside for the scheme when it was announced last October.
Business leaders for Irish small and medium enterprises like ISME recently warned of closures, claiming that local shops “pay higher unit costs for energy”.
The soaring electricity bills prompted Sligo Centra shop owner Finbarr Filan to warn: “SMEs cannot sustain ongoing cost increases of this magnitude.
Even Flora’s parish priest, Fr Harry Bohan, 83, has warned of the dangers of losing small businesses.
He told the Irish Mirror: “Local businesses like Flora’s are vital, they are the lifeblood of the community.”
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