Funding check
Grants and supports for AI training in Ireland
What the official pages say. Check eligibility with the funder. An application is not an approval, and this page does not make any course grant-approved.
Start here
The published price of NuaVantage’s 6-Week AI Adoption Programme is €595 + VAT. It is 30 daily tasks of about 15 minutes, emailed each weekday. You can start any time. Each participant needs a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, which is separate. That price stands whether or not a grant is available.
The programme is a series of short emailed tasks. It is not automatically the same thing as a one-day live course on a funder’s approved list. Read the rules below and ask the funder before you assume the fee, or the time, qualifies.
Skillnet Ireland: Upskill SME Training Grant
Skillnet Ireland’s eligibility page says the grant supports established SMEs in the Republic of Ireland. Companies need to be CRO-registered, operating for at least 12 months, and within the SME criteria it points to (between 2 and 250 employees, plus the turnover parameters in its FAQ). It lists charity or not-for-profit organisations, public sector bodies, and businesses outside the Republic as ineligible.
In 2026, training that focuses on AI can be eligible, but only from the approved programme list. Training must be at least one day, during the employee’s contracted working hours, delivered in Ireland, and funded by the employer. Self-directed e-learning only programmes are not eligible. Training fees are not eligible. The grant is towards staff salary cost for the days spent in training, calculated from the CSO Earnings and Labour Costs 2025 Q2 report at €204.30 per day.
Skillnet’s FAQ gives a 2026 funding window of 1 September 2026 to 31 December 2026, with claims open until 15 January 2027. Its scheme guidelines say funding is first-approved, first-funded until the budget is committed, and that submitting an application does not guarantee funding. Check the pages again before you apply. Confirm the dates and the rate there, and do not treat NuaVantage’s emailed programme as approved unless it appears on the list.
Local Enterprise Office training
Local Enterprise Offices run training programmes for people exploring self-employment and for businesses already trading. The national page tells you to contact your own office for the current schedule. What is running, whether AI is on it, and what it costs are local questions. Ask your LEO. Do not assume a course fee is covered.
The Grow Digital Voucher is different from a training grant. It can include training and IT configuration only where the business needs help to set up software that is new to it, or to train people to use that new system. Training and configuration together can be no more than 50% of the project cost. The grant is 50% of eligible costs, with a minimum of €500 and a maximum of €5,000. You need to have completed a Digital for Business project in the previous two years, have between 1 and 50 paid employees, and submit the application before you order or spend. Some charities that meet a specific trading-income test can apply. Charitable status on its own is not enough. Details are on the eligibility page. Check with your LEO.
Enterprise Ireland: Digital Discovery
The National Enterprise Hub describes Enterprise Ireland’s Digital Discovery grant as support to introduce digital technology. It lists up to 80% of eligible costs, to a maximum grant of €5,000. You may be eligible if you are an Enterprise Ireland client, or an Irish-owned business in manufacturing or internationally traded services employing 10 or more. Eligibility is subject to the terms.
The Hub describes the grant as analysis, exploration, and guidance on digital, data, automation or AI changes. It does not list it as a grant that pays a public training-course fee. The 2026 Access Advice: Digital Discovery brochure is the document to read with your Development Adviser. Do not start the work before you know it is approved. Údarás na Gaeltachta’s version of Digital Discovery says IT training for existing systems is not covered. If you are in the Gaeltacht, use that page.
Charities
The supports above are mostly for trading businesses. A charity looking for technology funding should start with how Irish charities find and apply for technology grants, not with a SME training scheme that excludes nonprofits.
Check eligibility, then decide
The 6-week programme is €595 + VAT either way. If a funder later confirms support, that is their decision, in writing, before you rely on it.