Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 February 2013
126. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of jobs created in each of the past five years to date that have qualified for EU support under heading of science, technology and innovation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9446/13]
View answerStatistics on the creation of jobs under the heading of Science, Innovation and Technology alone in the enterprise base are not readily available. These are not industrial sectors per se and much of the modern enterprise base is underpinned by science, technology and innovation including for example, pharmaceuticals, ICT, agri-food, medical devices, engineering and even financial services which are developing innovative products and services.
The Action Plan for Jobs emphasises the significance of innovation and the use of technology as critical drivers of job creation in Ireland while seeking to maximise their impact in the coming years. Substantial ongoing investment is being made in Ireland’s national innovation ecosystem and in the supports that build the innovative capability in Irish enterprise. In tandem with this approach it is recognised that substantial international expertise and important sources of non-exchequer funding are available via EU research initiatives.
Enterprise Ireland is the Irish agency responsible for helping Irish companies and third level researchers to participate in the Seventh EU Framework Programme for Research (FP7) which has a budget of €50 billion over its 7 year timeframe which ends in 2013. FP7 offers valuable opportunities to companies of all sizes based in Ireland to participate in high-quality research collaborations with their European counterparts, with the support of EU funding. Collaborative Research forms the core of the FP7 programme, fostering collaborative research across Europe through transnational consortia of industry and academia.
Through Enterprise Ireland’s facilitation and financial support, Irish companies and academic researchers have secured in the region of €85M in 2011 and approximately €95m in 2012. The official returns for the preceding years were:
- €54.3M in 2008
- €68.9M in 2009
- €72.0M in 2010
This funding has provided a considerable increase in the innovative capability of Irish academics and industry over and above existing exchequer investments in this area.
