De Minimis Aid is small amounts of State Aid given to an enterprise which cannot exceed €200,000 (from 1st January 2007) over any three fiscal years to any company irrespective of size of location. De Minimis Aid can come from any State body, agency or department. If a Company is part of a group then the €200,000 limit applies to the group.
Such amounts of De Minimis Aid are regarded as falling outside the category of State aid that is banned by the EC Treaty and can be awarded to an enterprise without notification to or clearance from the European Commission.
De Minimis Aid can be in the form of grant or equity.
Other sources of De Minimis Aid from Enterprise Ireland include:
and these must be taken into account in calculating the De Minimis Limit for the Company/Group.
If a Company has received any De Minimis Aid from any other source such as another State Agency or department including County Enterprise Boards, FAS (Competency Development Programme), an Bord Bia, EPA and other sources of State Agency/department funding, then this must also be taken into account when calculating the De Minimis Limit.