3.— (1) F8[Subject to subsection (1A), for the purposes] of this Act, a person is a qualifying enterprise if—

(a) the person is established in the State and employs fewer than 250 persons (calculated in accordance with the Commission Recommendation) whether or not in the State, and

(b) the person’s—

(i) annual turnover does not exceed €50 million (calculated in accordance with the Commission Recommendation) whether or not earned in, or derived from activities carried on in, the State,

(ii) estimated annual turnover (in circumstances where the person has been carrying on business for less than 12 months) in the year concerned does not exceed €50 million (calculated in accordance with the Commission Recommendation) whether or not estimated to be earned, or derived from activities carried on, in the State, or

(iii) annual balance sheet total does not exceed €43 million (calculated in accordance with the Commission Recommendation).

F9[(1A) For the purposes of this Act, insofar as it applies to a Covid-19 credit guarantee scheme F10[or a Ukraine credit guarantee scheme], a person is a qualifying enterprise if—

(a) the person is a qualifying enterprise within the meaning of subsection (1), or

(b) in the case of a person who is not a qualifying enterprise within the meaning of subsection (1), the person is established in the State and employs not more than 499 persons (calculated in accordance with the Commission Recommendation) whether or not in the State.]

(2) In this section “Commission Recommendation” means Commission Recommendation (2003/361/EC) of 6 May 2003 ¹ concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.