The importance of innovation and technology to Ireland’s on-going and future economic recovery is well recognised by the Government as being crucial to growth in both our indigenous and FDI sectors. Evidence, from both the EU and internationally, shows that the Government’s strategy of accelerating the economic and societal return on our Science Technology and Innovation investment is paying off. While is it not possible to fully disaggregate the contribution of Innovation and Technology to job creation, all the evidence is that it is very significant, as Ireland moves up the value chain and exploits our competitive position in knowledge based activity. In particular, a number of EU and international indicators illustrate this. Ireland is ranked:
- 11th in the Global Innovation Index 2014 (out of 142 countries)
- 15th in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook for 2014 (up 2 places from 2013)
- 3rd in the EU ‘Indictor of Innovation Output’ (September 2013)
- 9th in the European Commission’s 2014 Innovation Union Scoreboard.
The availability of European research programmes provides Ireland with valuable mechanisms for firms – indigenous and multinational - to engage in high-level international research to further their innovativeness and competitiveness. These programmes are also a critical source of non-Exchequer funding for this important economic activity.
The current EU Framework Programme for research and innovation, which is part of the drive to create new growth and jobs in Europe, is Horizon 2020 (H2020), which has a budget of close to €80bn. and runs over the period 2014-2020. Irish companies who compete successfully for funding from this large research funding resource will boost their innovative capability and competitiveness which in turn will deliver strong national economic impacts.
Ireland performed excellently in the previous Framework Programme 7 (FP7) where over €620m. was awarded to Irish companies and academics. We have set ourselves an ambitious target of winning €1.25bn under H2020.
Our strategy to achieve our H2020 target is being driven by the H2020 High Level Group, chaired by my Department. All Departments and Agencies engaged in research funding are represented on the High Level Group.
The H2020 national support system is based in Enterprise Ireland and through a national office and a network of national contact points in the relevant programme areas of H2020, information and support is available to enterprise and researchers to facilitate their engagement with the opportunities available under H2020.
Concerning the Youth Guarantee Scheme, this falls under the responsibility of the Department of Social Protection.
