The Government has agreed to develop a scheme to help firms that use kerosene to heat their premises with the increased cost of the fuel over recent months.
It follows criticism that such businesses had been excluded from the supports available under the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS), which only covered metered fuel sources, such as electricity and gas.
Many such enterprises are smaller businesses based in rural areas, away from mains gas supplies.
Kerosene prices were on average 50c per litre higher during the reference period of the TBESS, up 64% compared to 2021 levels.
In a statement the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment said it would consult with other Government departments in the design of the Kerosene Scheme which its hoped will be launched in the third quarter of the year.
It will be funded from the large unspent portion of the €1.2 billion in funds that were set aside for the TBESS.
The new scheme will also require state aid approval from the EU Commission.
"As we know, businesses have experienced unprecedented increases in energy costs over the past year," said Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney.
"This scheme will now ensure that businesses, who use kerosene for heating, can claim for the increased costs of this fuel."
"The scheme will complement supports for increases in gas and electricity costs that are already available under the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme."
However, Liquefied Petroleum Gas will not be covered under the scheme as an analysis found it had increased by less than 20% during the reference period of the TBESS.
As a result, businesses would not qualify on the basis of this level of increase, using the TBESS parameters.
It is expected that the Kerosene Scheme will be operated through Enterprise Ireland, separate to TBESS.
Payments will be made on the basis of a flat rate, with businesses receiving banded payments depending on their annual volume purchase of Kerosene for heating during 2022.
Any firms that received TBESS payments for increased electricity and gas costs will still be able to apply to this scheme.
Also today, the Minister for Finance told the Cabinet that he intends to extend the TBESS until the end of July, a plan reported by RTE News two weeks ago.
"This extension will help businesses, over the coming months, that have not yet seen the benefit of decreasing wholesale energy prices, and I strongly encourage businesses who have not already registered and made a claim for TBESS to do so," Michael McGrath said.
