TL;DR
- The Grow Digital Voucher is the Local Enterprise Office grant most small Irish firms can use for AI: 50% of eligible costs, from €500 up to €5,000, for new off-the-shelf software (AI analytics systems included) plus training and configuration
- You must complete a LEO Digital for Business project first, within the previous two years, and apply before you spend anything
- Enterprise Ireland’s Digital Discovery and AI Discovery grants pay up to 80% of an expert engagement, capped at €5,000, but only for eligible Enterprise Ireland clients
- Ireland’s four European Digital Innovation Hubs offer services discounted by up to 100% under De Minimis state aid, and CeADAR runs the hub for AI
- Skillnet Ireland’s 2026 Upskill SME Training Grant pays €204.30 per employee per day of eligible AI training, towards salaries rather than course fees
- Apply before you spend: every scheme below refuses costs committed before the application or approval
- Clever Merchants is not a Local Enterprise Office panel consultant and does not process grant applications
The Grow Digital Voucher is the Local Enterprise Office grant that can pay half the cost of new AI software for a small Irish business, and it has its own section below, straight after Digital for Business, the step you must complete first. It sits among a handful of public supports for AI in Ireland, and the right one depends mostly on which agency your business belongs to. A small firm with a few staff that trades in Ireland usually goes through its Local Enterprise Office. A manufacturer or exporter that is already an Enterprise Ireland client uses a different set of grants. Both can use the European Digital Innovation Hubs and Skillnet Ireland.
I run Clever Merchants, an AI consultancy in Dublin that works remotely with owner-managed businesses of roughly 5 to 50 staff. This guide sets out what each support funds, how much it pays, who qualifies and how to apply, using only the official scheme pages, each of which I read on 14 September 2026. I rechecked the Grow Digital Voucher page on 19 September 2026 and the figures below still match it. Rules and budgets change, so confirm the details with the agency before you plan around a figure.
To be clear from the start: Clever Merchants is not a Local Enterprise Office panel consultant, we do not process grant applications, and nothing here is a promise that any scheme will pay for our work. If you want to know which AI workflows are worth asking about before you meet an advisor, the free AI Readiness Review takes about three minutes.
What AI grants are available in Ireland in 2026?
Small businesses can use LEO Digital for Business, the Grow Digital Voucher, Enterprise Ireland Digital Discovery, European Digital Innovation Hubs and Skillnet’s AI training grant.
Very few of these were designed only for AI. Most are digital adoption supports that now list AI among the things they will fund. The exceptions are Enterprise Ireland’s AI Discovery strand, CeADAR’s EDIH for AI and Skillnet Ireland’s Upskill SME Training Grant, which in 2026 only covers AI training.
The biggest dividing line is agency. The Local Enterprise Office pages for Digital for Business and the Grow Digital Voucher both exclude businesses that are currently clients of Enterprise Ireland or IDA. Enterprise Ireland’s AI Discovery page, in turn, tells Local Enterprise Office clients to contact their own agency advisor. So the first question is not “which grant”, it is “whose client am I”.
AI grants in Ireland at a glance
| Scheme | Who runs it | What it funds | Amount | How to apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital for Business | Local Enterprise Office | A digital consultant analyses your systems, looks for ways to optimise and integrate them, and guides implementation | Not stated on the scheme page; ask your LEO | Discuss it with your Local Enterprise Office |
| Grow Digital Voucher | Local Enterprise Office | New off-the-shelf software subscriptions, including analytics software with AI systems, plus training and IT configuration | 50% of eligible costs, minimum grant €500, maximum €5,000 | Apply through your LEO after completing Digital for Business, before any spending |
| Digital Discovery, including AI Discovery | Enterprise Ireland | 3 to 7 days of an external digital or AI expert | Up to 80% of project cost, maximum grant €5,000, eligible costs capped at €900 a day | Talk to your Client Advisor, then apply online under Access Advice (Digital Discovery) |
| Digital Process Innovation | Enterprise Ireland | Implementing new production or delivery methods, including the internal team and external expertise | Up to 50% grant funding | Through your Client Advisor; full details sit behind the client login |
| European Digital Innovation Hubs | Four hubs, EU Digital Europe Programme and Government of Ireland, managed by Enterprise Ireland | Test before invest, skills training, support to find investment, networking | Services discounted by up to 100% under De Minimis aid | Contact the hub directly |
| Upskill SME Training Grant | Skillnet Ireland | Salary costs for staff days spent on eligible AI training | €204.30 per training day per employee; maximum depends on company size | Register, complete the training, then submit the completion form and cost recovery application |
| Innovation Voucher | Enterprise Ireland | Time with a publicly funded knowledge provider such as a higher education institute | €10,000 standard voucher; €20,000 co-funded voucher with 50% paid by the company | Apply online to Enterprise Ireland |
What does LEO Digital for Business cover?
A Local Enterprise Office digital consultant reviews your existing systems, finds ways to optimise and connect them, and guides you on implementing new digital solutions.
The Digital for Business page describes three pieces of work by the Local Enterprise Office’s “expert digital consultants”: analysing your existing digital systems to find gaps, exploring ways to optimise those systems and integrate new solutions, and giving guidance on implementing new or enhanced digital solutions. It is not intended to cover routine upgrades of systems you already use.
It is open to small enterprises with between 1 and 50 paid employees that are not currently Enterprise Ireland or IDA clients, have been trading for at least six months, are registered and operate in the area of the Local Enterprise Office, are solvent, and hold current tax clearance. The small enterprise test follows the EU definition, which the page gives as an annual turnover or balance sheet total of €10 million or less, and linked or partner companies count towards the figures. Businesses in coal, steel, primary agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, gambling, adult entertainment and tobacco are excluded.
The page does not publish the value of the support or the number of consultant days, and it does not name the consultants. Your Local Enterprise Office can explain those, so ask when you find your local office. Digital for Business matters for AI because it is the gate to the Grow Digital Voucher below.
What is the Grow Digital Voucher and how does it work for AI?
It pays 50% of eligible costs, from €500 to €5,000, for new off-the-shelf software, including AI analytics systems, plus related training and configuration.
The Grow Digital Voucher page sets the grant at 50% of eligible costs, with a minimum grant of €500 and a maximum of €5,000 per application. A business can be approved for up to two vouchers, but the two together cannot exceed €5,000, and a second voucher depends on showing progress against your Digital for Business report.
Eligibility mirrors Digital for Business, with one addition: you must have completed a Digital for Business project within the previous two years. Eligible costs fall into two groups:
- Software subscriptions that are new to the business and “off the shelf”, for up to one year. The examples include CRM, online booking, job tracking and field service management, workflow management, e-invoicing, cloud accounting and “analytics software (including AI systems)”. Adding licences to software you already use does not count.
- Training and IT configuration where you need expert help to set up or integrate the new system, or to train the team to use it. Training and configuration together can be no more than 50% of the overall project cost.
Two exclusions matter for anyone thinking about AI. Custom or bespoke software is not eligible, and neither are systems for regulatory compliance. The page also does not say who may provide the training or configuration, so check that with your Local Enterprise Office rather than assuming any supplier qualifies. Most importantly, the application must go in before you order, contract for or start any part of the project, or the whole project can be ruled ineligible.
Which Enterprise Ireland grants support AI adoption?
Digital Discovery and its AI Discovery strand fund up to 80% of an expert engagement, capped at €5,000, but only for eligible Enterprise Ireland clients.
Enterprise Ireland groups its AI supports on a Make AI work for your business page, arranged as exploring, planning and implementing, with a short AI opportunity self-assessment. Four grants are most relevant to a smaller company.
Digital Discovery
The Digital Discovery grant funds up to 80% of the project cost, up to a maximum grant of €5,000, for between 3 and 7 days of an external digital expert, typically over 8 to 12 weeks. Eligible costs are capped at €900 a day including travel and expenses. It can be used to explore digital technology in general or to focus on adopting AI.
It is for Irish-owned businesses in manufacturing or internationally traded services that employ 10 or more, and for Enterprise Ireland high-potential start-up clients. The page excludes general management consultancy, routine upgrades, paid software trials, assessments from technology vendors and general process mapping. The expert must be solution-agnostic and cannot be your IT provider, an employee or a shareholder.
AI Discovery
AI Discovery is a specialised part of Digital Discovery with a similar size of support. The consultant produces a report with actions and named owners, and Enterprise Ireland suggests a five-day schedule plus two days held back for follow-on stages. The page adds one eligibility route beyond Digital Discovery: domestically traded services companies in the residential sector may qualify under Built to Innovate. It says the grant is offered on a first come, first served basis, subject to budget availability, and that activities carried out before approval are not eligible.
Digital Process Innovation
The Digital Process Innovation page publicly shows only the headline: funding towards an internal implementation team and external expertise to implement new production or delivery methods, at up to 50% grant funding. The AI Discovery page names it as the support for integrating AI into company IT systems at the operational stage. Eligibility and application details are only visible to logged-in clients, so I have not quoted a maximum.
Innovation Voucher
The Innovation Voucher gives an SME €10,000 worth of time with a publicly funded knowledge provider, such as a higher education institute, or a €20,000 co-funded voucher where the company pays half. It suits an AI feasibility question a researcher could help answer. It cannot be used for software purchases or development, training, or general business consultancy, and the applicant must be a limited company registered in Ireland with a CRO number.
Are European Digital Innovation Hubs free for small businesses?
Their services can be discounted by up to 100% for eligible enterprises with enough De Minimis aid, and CeADAR says its services are fully discounted.
Enterprise Ireland’s EDIH page lists four hubs in Ireland: CeADAR, Data2Sustain, ENTIRE and FactoryXChange. Exporters and non-exporters are both eligible, provided the enterprise has fewer than 3,000 employees and enough De Minimis aid left. De Minimis aid is capped at €300,000 over a rolling three-year period, and the page explains how to add up what you have already received from other agencies.
The hubs offer four kinds of help: test before invest, such as building and testing a prototype; skills development; support to find investment; and ecosystem networking. CeADAR, Ireland’s centre for AI, runs the EDIH for AI and offers digital maturity assessments, AI training, proof of concept scoping and prototype testing. It states that all CeADAR EDIH programme services are 100% discounted. Its published case studies include automating quote generation for a maintenance company and building a customer quotation chatbot.
The programme has just been renewed. Enterprise Ireland announced on 7 September 2026 that ENTIRE 2.0 launched at University College Cork on 4 September, and that Ireland’s four hubs have secured a further €23 million for 2026 to 2029, with a particular focus on AI. Booking varies by hub, so contact the one closest to your sector.
Can Skillnet Ireland help pay for AI training?
Yes. In 2026 the Upskill SME Training Grant pays €204.30 per employee per day of eligible AI training, towards salary costs, not course fees.
The Upskill SME Training Grant lets a business recover the salary cost of the days an employee spends on AI training. The rate is €204.30 per training day per employee, which the eligibility page says is based on the CSO’s Earnings and Labour Costs figure. Training fees themselves are not covered, and the maximum grant depends on company size.
To qualify, a business must be an SME based in the Republic of Ireland with between 2 and 250 employees, registered with the CRO and operating for at least 12 months. The training must come from Skillnet’s eligible programme list, last at least one day, be delivered in Ireland during contracted working hours and be paid for by the employer. Self-directed e-learning only, statutory training and training in employees’ own time are excluded. The programme list runs from getting started with AI to governance and the EU AI Act.
The process has three steps: register, complete the training, then submit the completion form and a cost recovery application. On 14 September 2026 the page still said that details of portal access and registration “will be provided soon”, so check before you book on the strength of the grant. Separately, Skillnet Ireland’s Skillnet Business Networks provide subsidised training through sector and regional networks. For choosing training that actually changes how work gets done, see our guide to AI training for small business.
Other supports worth knowing about
InterTradeIreland. Its Collaborative Innovation pilots include AI for Construction, a cross-border pilot designed for 10 construction-sector SMEs to embed AI in their businesses, and PRISM for manufacturing SMEs adopting technologies such as AI enablers and digital twins. The page publishes no funding amounts or dates; you register interest by emailing the Collaborative Innovation team.
The Grow Digital portal. The Local Enterprise Office links to a free five-minute digital readiness self-assessment that returns a scorecard and signposts supports. It is a sensible thing to do before your first LEO conversation.
What I left out. An older Enterprise Ireland page on the Digital Transition Fund lists typical maximums for several grants, but the Digital Discovery page now says supports under that fund are “no longer funded under the Resilience and Recovery Fund”. Because I could not confirm those maximums on the current scheme pages, I have not repeated them.
Can a grant pay for an AI consultant in Ireland?
Sometimes. Digital Discovery lets eligible Enterprise Ireland clients choose their own consultant; Local Enterprise Office supports follow their own rules, so ask first.
The clearest case is Digital Discovery. Enterprise Ireland states that clients choose which consultant to engage and that there is no list of “approved consultants”. The client must find a suitable expert, is advised to speak to up to three, and Enterprise Ireland may still judge a proposed consultant unsuitable. AI Discovery is different: its consultants are drawn from a pool filtered against Enterprise Ireland’s criteria, and consultants are told not to describe themselves as “approved” or “shortlisted”. You can check a proposed consultant’s status through your Client Advisor.
The Local Enterprise Office route works differently. Digital for Business is delivered through the Local Enterprise Office’s own “expert digital consultants”, and the Grow Digital Voucher funds software, training and configuration rather than open-ended advice, with bespoke software excluded. Clever Merchants is not a Local Enterprise Office panel consultant. If you want outside help alongside a LEO project, your office decides what the grant can cover, and you should know that answer before you sign with anyone, us included.
For a trades or service firm that sells in Ireland and is not an Enterprise Ireland client, the honest position is simple: use the LEO supports for what they fund, and treat any consultancy fee as your own money unless your advisor tells you otherwise in writing. If you are comparing firms, our list of AI consultants for small businesses in Ireland describes each from its own website, including firms that deliver Local Enterprise Office programmes. What we do in Ireland is set out on AI consultancy in Ireland, and typical market rates are in our AI consultant cost guide.
How do you apply for an AI grant without losing it?
Talk to the agency first, get approval before you order, sign or pay for anything, and keep every invoice, report and proof of payment.
- Work out whose client you are. Not an Enterprise Ireland or IDA client and under 50 staff: start with your Local Enterprise Office. An Enterprise Ireland client: start with your Client Advisor.
- Name the job before the tool. “Our quotes take two days to go out” is easier for anyone to assess than “we want AI”. Write down the two or three tasks that eat the most hours and the software they touch.
- Apply before you commit. The Grow Digital Voucher page warns that ordering, contracting or starting any part of the project before applying can make it ineligible, and AI Discovery does not fund activity carried out before approval.
- Check the exclusions against your plan. Bespoke software is out for the Grow Digital Voucher; general management consultancy is out for Digital Discovery; course fees are out for the Skillnet grant.
- Keep the paperwork. Enterprise Ireland’s claims need the consultant’s report or progress report, the invoice and proof of payment, and Skillnet needs a training completion form.
Implementation usually comes after the grant-funded step. If a funded review or report tells you what to build, our AI implementation services page explains what building and connecting it involves.
A real example: what to bring to your first advisor meeting
Our AI Readiness Review was built to answer the question advisors ask first: what would AI actually do in this business? It asks six questions about your industry, team size, revenue and challenges, takes about three minutes, and returns an instant report naming the two or three workflows with the highest impact for a business like yours, with an estimate of hours saved per week. I then follow up personally within 24 hours.
That report is not a grant application and no agency asks for it. It is simply a written list of specific jobs, such as answering missed calls, chasing invoices or producing the weekly management report, which gives a Digital for Business consultant or a Digital Discovery expert something specific to examine. Walking into a Local Enterprise Office meeting with that list gives the advisor something concrete to assess, and it costs nothing to produce. If the report says AI is not worth your money yet, that is useful before a grant application too. Our guide to the AI readiness assessment for small business covers what else to prepare.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a grant specifically for AI in Ireland?
A few supports are AI-specific: Enterprise Ireland’s AI Discovery, CeADAR’s EDIH for AI and, in 2026, Skillnet Ireland’s Upskill SME Training Grant. For most small firms outside Enterprise Ireland, though, the usual starting point is a general digital support, Digital for Business, at the Local Enterprise Office.
How much is the Grow Digital Voucher worth?
The Local Enterprise Office page sets it at 50% of eligible costs, with a minimum grant of €500 and a maximum of €5,000. You can be approved for up to two vouchers, but together they cannot exceed €5,000.
Who can apply for the Grow Digital Voucher?
Small enterprises with 1 to 50 paid employees, trading for at least six months, that are not Enterprise Ireland or IDA clients, hold tax clearance and have completed a Digital for Business project within the previous two years. Apply through your Local Enterprise Office before any project spending.
Can I get the Grow Digital Voucher without doing Digital for Business first?
No. The Local Enterprise Office page says the voucher is open to small enterprises that have completed a Digital for Business project within the previous two years.
Does the Grow Digital Voucher cover custom AI software?
No. Custom or bespoke software is listed as ineligible, while new off-the-shelf software, including analytics software with AI systems, is on the eligible list.
Do I need to export to use a European Digital Innovation Hub?
No. Enterprise Ireland’s EDIH page says exporting and non-exporting enterprises are both eligible, provided they have fewer than 3,000 employees and enough De Minimis aid available.
Is Clever Merchants a Local Enterprise Office panel consultant?
No. We are not on a Local Enterprise Office panel and we do not process grant applications, so your LEO or Enterprise Ireland advisor decides what any scheme will fund.
How long does a Digital Discovery project take?
Enterprise Ireland describes 3 to 7 days of an external expert, typically spread over 8 to 12 weeks. For AI Discovery, it expects the first five consultant days to be completed within five weeks of the project starting.
Where to start
Check whether you are a Local Enterprise Office or Enterprise Ireland client, then book the conversation before you spend anything. While you wait for that meeting, the free AI Readiness Review takes about three minutes and gives you a written list of the AI workflows worth raising, with a personal follow-up from me within 24 hours. No card, no obligation, and no grant paperwork involved.
