HOTELS, CAFES, RESTAURANTS and attractions where food is sold can now apply for outdoor dining grants of up to €4,000 to help transform their outdoor dining capacity ahead of the summer months. 

The Outdoor Dining Enhancement Scheme, open to applicants from today, will provide funding for outdoor seating and accessories to help tourism and hospitality businesses offset some of the costs incurred in upgrading premises for outdoor dining and seating.

This is open to individual tourism and hospitality businesses including hotels, cafes, restaurants and attractions where food is sold for consumption on the premises, and has a limit of €4,000 per grant.

Local authorities are administering the scheme and all applicants will be required to comply with planning codes, legislative and other compliance requirements. Further details can be found here.

Items considered eligible for the scheme include tables, chairs, umbrellas, electric heaters, screens/windbreaks, plant stands, and wooden platforms. 

Where people follow social distancing and other public health measures, outdoor transmission is thought to be 19 to 20 times less likely than in an indoor setting.

In Cork city, 17 streets are to be permanently opened up to pedestrians following a successful run last summer to accommodate social distancing and outdoor dining. 

The Outdoor Dining Enhancement Scheme is also open to local authorities for investment in weatherproofing and outdoor dining infrastructures, such as the development of medium to large-scale permanent public dining spaces in towns and urban centres in preparation for welcoming back visitors when it is safe to do so.

Local authorities can apply for up to €200,000 under this element of the scheme.

This money is to be used to upgrade and enhance streets and public spaces, as well as to implement weather-proofing solutions which will facilitate year-round outdoor dining in urban tourism centres.