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Job Creation

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 October 2013

Thursday, 10 October 2013

Questions (31)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

31. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will indicate based on the experience of the past two and a half years, the extent to which he expects innovation and technology to play a significant part in the maintenance of existing jobs and the creation of new job opportunities in future years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42704/13]

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Written answers

Innovation and technology are key aspects of employment across most sectors. My Department and its agencies are focused on the development and support of internationally trading manufacturing and services firms in Ireland, and have a clear and steady focus on the potential and opportunities that exist and can be created by prioritising innovation and technology as a key driver of success. Enterprise development agencies, Enterprise Ireland (EI), IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland, provide a spectrum of innovation and science/ technology development programmes that deliver financial, technical and experiential support to help companies become more innovative, encourage and support competitiveness, and help them grow their sales and exports in order to create a climate in which sustainable employment will grow and expand.

The importance of innovation to Ireland has been well recognised by the Government as being crucial to growth in both our indigenous and FDI sectors. It was most encouraging to see that the European Commission’s Innovation Union Scoreboard, published in spring 2013, shows Ireland retaining its position among those EU Member States with above average performance in their research and innovation systems. Moreover, the European Commission ‘Indicator of Innovation Output’, announced in September 2013, shows Ireland, along with Sweden, Germany and Luxembourg as EU Member States getting the most out of innovation.

IBM’s Global Location Trends Report of 2012 places Ireland:

- 1st in the world for inward investment by quality and value.

- 1st in Europe for jobs created in Research and Development.

- 1st in Europe for investment in the pharmaceutical sector.

- 2nd in Europe and 4th globally for the number of investment jobs per capita.

In addition, improvements have taken place in Ireland’s cost competitiveness, reflected in the fact that, in 2013, Ireland’s international competitiveness ranking improved 3 places from 20th in 2011, to 17th in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook for 2013, published past May. Ireland is 6th out of the 25 EU countries featured.

These indicators correspond well with the stated ambition of our Taoiseach to make Ireland the best small country in the world in which to do business by 2016.

The Government’s strategy has been to put in place a range of initiatives with the overarching aim of accelerating both the economic and societal return on our public investment in Science, Technology and Innovation. In this way, implementation of Research Prioritisation, underway since March 2012, will see the majority of public research funding aligned with 14 priority areas where we are most likely to get economic and societal returns, particularly in the form of jobs. Another key initiative is the adoption of an Intellectual Property Protocol, which outlines a clear, robust and industry friendly policy for the commercialisation of IP arising from state funded research. As result of this, the central Technology Transfer Office (‘cTTO’) is currently being established. The aim of the cTTO is to encourage the commercialisation of IP arising from State funded research, with a view to achieving more job creation from our investment in this area. Furthermore, the remit of Science Foundation Ireland has been expanded to cover applied research, aligned with the 14 priority areas to further support the development of research findings into commercial opportunities, further enhancing our job creation potential.

Question No. 32 answered with Question No. 19.
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