Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 March 2014
457. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide more information on the targeted call for innovation vouchers in the manufacturing sector; and the way this will be implemented as per Action 61 of the Action Plan for Jobs. [13162/14]
View answerThe Action Plan for Jobs 2014 contains a number of specific actions that will support the manufacturing sector in Ireland including the introduction of a targeted Call for Innovation Vouchers for the sector.
In order to increase the levels of innovation, competitiveness, and the long term sustainability of the manufacturing sector it is critical that manufacturing firms increase their levels of R&D. Collaboration with higher education institutes represents an important opportunity to leverage the wealth of experience, skills and resources in the higher education system while also being eligible for support under many of Enterprise Ireland’s collaborative research funding instruments.
One such support is the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher Initiative which is designed to drive an on-going innovation cultural shift within small enterprise by promoting and encouraging a transfer of knowledge between Ireland’s public knowledge providers and the small business community and creating greater synergies between the two. Under the initiative, vouchers worth €5,000 are allocated to small businesses in order to work with higher education knowledge providers on specific innovation questions. As part of the Action Plan for Jobs it was decided that this instrument could be used to introduce relevant manufacturing companies to the benefits of collaborative R&D with a higher education research provider.
Enterprise Ireland are currently planning a targeted promotion campaign to highlight the Innovation Voucher programme as vehicle to encourage manufacturing companies, with the aid of higher level research providers, to explore manufacturing related R&D solutions for their businesses. It is expected that this call will be launched in Q4 2014.
