Seán Barrett
Question:40 Mr. Barrett asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the funds, if any, available for inventors; and the plans, if any, she has to provide funding in this area. [14667/99]
Written Answers. - Product Inventors.
Enterprise Ireland operates a range of schemes to assist inventors bring their products to the market.
The intellectual property assistance scheme, while primarily aimed at assisting established or high potential start up companies, can provide advice to individual inventors, including those within the third level system, who either intend to set up a business to commercialise their invention or to work with a new or established business to the same end.
The assistance is focused on the development, commercialisation and funding of patentable technology and, in suitable cases, funding assistance towards the patent programme. For early stage proposals, funding towards patent costs of up to £15,000 may be available. In the case of major patent programmes, up to 50 per cent of the cost of the patent programme, up to £30,000 on average, may be available, subject, in most cases, to a royalty agreement being reached between Enterprise Ireland and the promoter.
In the case of inventors who are researchers in third level institutions, Enterprise Ireland provides assistance towards commercialising the outputs of their research and development. Funding assistance up to 50 per cent, up to a maximum of £30,000, of the eligible costs, which include market research, prototype development and business planning, may be made available to suitable projects.
In addition, funding for the manufacture of prototypes, followed by product and process development, may be made available under the feasibility study grants programme, up to £15,000 against eligible expenditure of £30,000 towards the cost of retaining consultants, employees' salaries, prototype sampling and travel and subsistence.
None of these schemes provide 100 per cent funding to take something from the conceptual stage to a finished product. It is normal that the proposer or a private investor, if the proposer has no funds, has sufficient confidence in the project to provide funding. The schemes are designed to supplement such private funding. Obviously the schemes or any private sector investment involves some form of commercial assessment of the proposal before funds can be committed.