A GRANT OFFERED to social enterprises led by ethnic minorities has falsely been described as being proof that “phone shops, Turkish barbers, vape shops” and all other foreign-owned businesses in the country are being funded “by the Irish taxpayer”.

While the fund is granted by a group that does receive government money, it is in no way true to say that the grant is funded by taxpayer money, or that “all foreign-owned businesses” are in receipt of it. So far, the total number of businesses who have received money from the grant is zero.

The Claim

“Every foreign business that opens in Ireland is funded by the Irish taxpayer,” reads a 4 April post on X by anti-immigrant account @real_eire.

“Phone shops, Turkish barbers, vape shops and the likes are all being funded by the Irish taxpayers.”

The post includes a screenshot from Rethink Ireland outlining a strand of their Entrepreneur Impact Fund, which is open to social enterprises “led by individuals from ethnic minority, migrant, or refugee communities”.

‘Taxpayer money’

Rethink Ireland, also known as Social Innovation Growth Fund Ireland Limited, is a charity that provides funds to the community and voluntary sectors, as well as to social enterprises — businesses with an altruistic aim.

Rethink Ireland was founded by the Irish government in 2013 to fund and offer advice for “social innovations”. Rethink Ireland is technically an independent charity, though it partners with the government on many projects — including funding, though we will get into that later. 

Its 2023 annual report gives a decent idea of how these grants are typically distributed: 147 awardees were given €42 million, with the largest share being €19.9 million to 44 projects in the education sector, €13.7 million to 39 health projects, and then lesser amounts toward social enterprises, equality, and the green transition. 

Examples of such projects, such as an online learning platform for early school-leavers, or free art workshops for sick children, can be read in the report here, alongside financial statements. 

However, the fund mentioned in the claim about “foreign businesses” is the third strand of Rethink Ireland’s Entrepreneurship Impact Fund 2023-2026 (the first two strands targeted more established social enterprises, as well as those being started by people under 25).

Worth a total of €900,000, the Minority Entrepreneurship Fund is planned to be divided between “five minority-led social enterprises, taking an entrepreneurial approach to social change” over the course of three years.

Ethnic minorities (including Irish Travellers), migrants and refugees are eligible.

“All five awardees will receive a cash grant of up to €60,000 per annum over the 3-year period and a tailored non-financial supports package,” Rethink Ireland’s website reads. “This will include supports such as strategic planning, communications planning, impact management and fundraising strategy development.”

The open call for applicants was closed last March and final decisions aren’t expected until next July or August.

So, the claim that “Every foreign business that opens is Ireland is funded by the Irish taxpayer,” is clearly false — no businesses have been awarded the grant yet. However, there is another more significant reason to dismiss the claim: the government doesn’t fund it.

Donors

“The Entrepreneurship Impact Fund is funded by a private, philanthropic donor,” Rethink Ireland told The Journal by email. “This fund did not receive any match funding from the Irish Government and is fully funded through philanthropy.”

In other words, the grants to ethnic-minority-led groups do not come from government money at all. They come from a private donation.

“The Minority Entrepreneurship Fund is less than 1% of the total funds (€109 million) allocated by Rethink Ireland to date,” their email continued.

Rethink Ireland does receive government money, though strictly speaking, not taxpayer money.

The government does sometimes match donations given to Rethink Ireland by private donors, but it does so through the Dormant Accounts Fund, made up of “unclaimed funds from accounts in credit institutions in Ireland”.

These are accounts that have had no customer-initiated transactions for 15 years (often because the account holder is dead), as well as unclaimed life assurance policies with a specified term, which are considered dormant five years after the end of that term.

Banks are legally obliged to contact account holders and put notices in newspapers before these funds are given to the National Treasury Management Agency. Original account holders (or their heirs), who find that their accounts have been taken can claim the funds back with interest.

However, while this is relevant to Rethink Ireland’s other work, it is peripheral to The Entrepreneurship Impact Fund, which is entirely privately funded.

False claims about ethnic minorities, migrants, or refugees having supports exceeding those available to Irish citizens are common. These are often shared in the context of members of these groups being successful or contributing to society, as if to diminish their achievements.

The Journal has previously debunked claims that Ukrainian drivers were exempt from Irish laws; that immigrants get shorter sentences than Irish nationals; that the High Court had ruled ‘illegal immigrants should be paid €318 per week’; that the Irish government had created a grant for Ukrainians to start their own businesses; and that the government is offering tens of thousands of euro to coax Indians to live on Ireland’s small islands.

Like those previous stories, this claim that “Every foreign business that opens in Ireland is funded by the Irish taxpayer” is untrue.

There is a privately-funded grant that is open to social enterprises led by ethnic minorities (including Irish Travellers), migrants and refugees, but it only recently closed to applications and, as yet, no such grants have been decided upon or paid out.

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