Vol. 522 No. 4
62 Mr. Perry asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the plans she has to encourage firms to access and exploit research and development and technology from international sources, in particular firms from the Sligo-Leitrim region; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18834/00]
The Government recognises that there is a strong link between investment in the research and innovation base of the economy and sustained economic growth and has committed some £1.9 billion to this area over the period of the national development plan. The overall objective in relation to technological innovation and research and development at company level is to ensure companies have access to appropriate technological expertise which helps them to improve their competitiveness and to assist them to absorb and embed such technologies within their companies.
One of the objectives of the measures contained in the national development plan is to increase the level of research activity by Irish companies. It is recognised also that it is important that Irish firms have access to the latest information on developments in research and technology nationally and internationally.
Enterprise Ireland actively assists companies to access and exploit research, development and technology from international sources.
The EU fifth framework programme for research and technological development emphasises the process of innovation, and supports research in areas such as information and communication technologies, food, nutrition and health and technologies for design, manufacturing, control and production. It has a budget of 13.7 billion euros over the period 1998-2002. The programme operates by supporting collaborative R&D between third level colleges, research institutes and companies across the European Community.
The framework programme operates on the basis of an open call for proposals which are then assessed on a competitive basis by an international panel of experts. Enterprise Ireland disseminates information on the programme to companies and assists them to identify suitable partner firms abroad and advises on the content of research proposals.
The operational programme to give effect to the national development plan pays particular attention to the area of access to new technological developments. The technology and innovation partnership, international programme, will link Irish companies and companies overseas for sharing of technology. It will also operate a "technology watch" activity identifying research trends arising abroad and creating new ways of exploiting the results in firms in Ireland.
63 Mr. Perry asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the plans she has to increase the number of companies performing effective research and development here as well as the scale of that investment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18835/00]
Increased investment in research, technological development and innovation, RTDI, is a key component of the Government's policy to ensure that Ireland becomes an advanced and high waged economy. In this regard a sum of £1.95 billion has been allocated in the national plan for RTDI activities in the period 2000-06. From this amount a sum of £1.2 billion is being provided for industrial development related activities.
This funding will be used to enhance innovation and competitiveness in order to increase output and employment in industry. This will be achieved through focused support for in-company R&D, the networking of companies with the wider S&T infrastructure, the better use of technology in balanced regional development and the preparation for future technological opportunities through a technology foresight process. It is anticipated that over the period of the plan a sum of around £300 million will be allocated to the industrial development agencies to support a number of in-company RTDI measures including: an R&D capability scheme which will support large scale investments building up the R&D infrastructure (human and capital) within new and existing firms; a competitive RTI scheme which will support companies high quality speculative R&D projects, on a competitive basis; and an innovation management capability scheme which will support SMEs achieve greater returns on their R&D investments by the provision of training and consultancy in R&D management.
The objective of this substantial investment in the RTDI base of the country is to increase the number of companies performing effective research and development so that they become more innovative and competitive as Ireland faces greater global market pressures in the future.
