When a Donegal-based food processing company asked us in early 2026 whether NIS2 compliance grant funding was available, the honest answer was: not yet, but it is coming. On 18 February 2026, the Irish Government published Chapter 5 of its new Digital Ireland — Connecting our People, Securing our Future strategy. Buried within the language of digital transformation and national resilience is a commitment that every Irish SME owner should read carefully: the Government will provide targeted grant funding for SMEs and organisations with obligations under the EU NIS2 Directive, to help them improve their cyber resilience.
This is not a vague aspiration. It is a specific, published commitment from the Department of the Taoiseach, with a 2026 delivery timeline. For businesses that have been watching NIS2 obligations approach with concern about the cost of compliance, this is significant news.
WHAT: The Four Commitments in the Digital Ireland Strategy
The Digital Ireland strategy sets out four specific cyber security commitments for 2026, each with meaningful implications for Irish businesses.
The headline for most SMEs is the targeted grant funding. The Government has committed in writing to provide financial support specifically for SMEs and other organisations with NIS2 obligations. Eligibility criteria and application processes have not yet been published, but the commitment is clear. This directly acknowledges what anyone working with Irish businesses knows: the cost of NIS2 compliance is real, and smaller organisations need support to meet it.
The second commitment is a new National Cyber Security Strategy — setting out a roadmap for Ireland's cyber resilience for the years ahead. This will be the overarching framework within which all other cyber security investment and policy decisions are made.
Third, and less prominent in the media coverage, is a commitment to expand the capacity of the National Cyber Security Centre. Ireland's NCSC has been under-resourced relative to the scale of the threat landscape. More capacity means more guidance, more incident response support when serious incidents occur, and more resources available to Irish businesses navigating the compliance environment. For businesses in Donegal, Sligo, and across the north-west that have had limited access to in-person NCSC support, this is meaningful.
Fourth, a new Cyber Security Research Centre of Excellence represents a longer-term investment in Ireland's security ecosystem — building the research and skills base that will underpin national resilience over the coming decade.
Is your business ready to apply for NIS2 compliance grant funding when the scheme opens? Book a free 20-minute strategy call — positioning your business now means you will have the documentation in place when the application process launches.
WHAT NOW: Are You in Scope for NIS2 Grant Funding?
The grant funding is specifically targeted at businesses with NIS2 obligations. This means the first question to answer is whether your business falls within the directive's scope.
NIS2 covers two categories of entity: Essential Entities and Important Entities. Essential Entities include organisations in energy, transport, banking, financial infrastructure, health, water, digital infrastructure, public administration, and space. Important Entities include businesses in postal and courier services, waste management, chemicals, food production and distribution, certain manufacturing sectors, digital providers, and research organisations.[^1]
NIS2 applies based on size thresholds as well as sector. Medium-sized enterprises — those with 50 or more employees, or annual turnover exceeding €10 million — in the above sectors are generally in scope. Some sectors have no size threshold, meaning even smaller businesses are captured. If your business operates in any of these sectors, or sits in the supply chain of an organisation that does, you are likely in scope.
The NCSC Ireland has published detailed guidance on entity classification and maintains a scope-checking tool on its website. Determining your status is the essential first step — you cannot apply for compliance grant funding if you do not know whether you are eligible.
WHY IT MATTERS: The Financial Reality of NIS2 Compliance
For many Irish SMEs, the honest answer to "what does NIS2 compliance cost?" is more than they budgeted for. Depending on your starting point, achieving and maintaining compliance requires investment in risk assessment and gap analysis, technical controls including MFA and endpoint protection, incident response planning and testing, supply chain security assessments, staff training and awareness programmes, and governance documentation for board reporting.
The Government's acknowledgement of this financial burden — and its commitment to grant funding specifically to address it — is a direct recognition that compliance is not free and that smaller businesses need support. The NCSC Ireland has been clear that the CyFUN framework is the preferred method for Irish organisations to demonstrate NIS2 compliance, and adoption of this framework is likely to be central to any grant application.[^2]
The Data Protection Commission and An Garda Síochána's National Cyber Crime Bureau are both involved in Ireland's broader cyber resilience ecosystem. The DPC's track record of enforcement under GDPR suggests that NIS2 enforcement, when it comes, will be taken seriously.[^3]
The businesses best positioned to benefit from grant funding will be those that have already started their compliance journey — with a gap assessment, a roadmap, and the documentation to support a credible application.
WHAT NEXT: Three Actions to Take Right Now
1. Determine whether you are in scope for NIS2. Use the NCSC Ireland's entity classification guidance to get an initial assessment. If you are in scope, the clock is already running on your compliance obligations — grant funding will help, but it will not pause your legal requirements.
2. Conduct a gap assessment against NIS2 requirements. Grant funding for NIS2 compliance will almost certainly require you to demonstrate what you have already done and what you still need to do. A structured gap assessment gives you the baseline you need to make a credible application and to prioritise your investment.
3. Build a prioritised security roadmap. The businesses that benefit most from grant funding are those that arrive with a clear plan — current state, target state, and a costed list of what needs to happen to close the gap. A vCISO can help you build this roadmap quickly and cost-effectively.
Related Reading
- NIS2 Board Liability: Can Irish Directors Be Personally Liable?
- NIS2 Cost of Non-Compliance: Why Irish SMEs Cannot Ignore It
- How to Choose a Managed Security Service Provider in Ireland
[^1]: NCSC Ireland — NIS2 entity classification guidance: https://www.ncsc.gov.ie/advice-for-organisations/ [^2]: Data Protection Commission Ireland — enforcement and compliance: https://www.dataprotection.ie [^3]: An Garda Síochána — National Cyber Crime Bureau: https://www.garda.ie/en/crime/cyber-crime/
Pragmatic Security — Cybersecurity advisory for Irish businesses. Based in Donegal, Ireland. CISA, CISSP, CISM certified advisors.