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National Development Plan Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 December 2018

Tuesday, 4 December 2018

Questions (84)

Billy Kelleher

Question:

84. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the decision-making process for funding applications when it comes to the new disruptive technologies innovation fund that is part of the National Development Plan 2018-2027. [50501/18]

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Written answers

My Department launched the first call of the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund on 29 June 2018 and Expressions of Interest were sought by the deadline of 3pm on Friday, 17 August 2018. Information on the fund and how to apply was provided by my Department with the support of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland. Expressions of Interest were sought for funding commencing in 2019. Subsequent calls will be announced in due course.

My Department received over 300 Expressions of Interest for this first call for funding. All of these represented collaborations of two or more partners with at least one SME in each partnership. As you know, the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund is a competitive offer and all applications for funding under this first call are subject to the same assessment and selection criteria.

In line with what was agreed by Government in May 2018 for all departments involved in running National Development Plan (NDP) Funds, my Department appointed an Advisory Board with civil servants and relevant experts from the sector as members. Accordingly, an Advisory Board chaired by the Department and comprised of nominated members of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland, along with nominated members of other Government Departments and public sector organisations was appointed to oversee the assessment and selection process of the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund. A panel of independent international experts comprised of both technical and commercialisation experts was also formed to assess applications.

Under Call 1, all the Expression of Interest (EOI) forms were screened for eligibility. Only eligible applications were put forward for assessment by the Advisory Board and the panel of experts. Assessment of these eligible applications was based on the selection criteria set out in the guidelines for this fund, but briefly they are: 1.) the strength of the disruptive technology dimension; 2.) economic and market impact of the proposal; 3.) the quality and efficiency of the collaboration; and 4.) the overall excellence of the proposed approach.

Decisions on Expressions of Interest were made in September 2018 and were communicated to the lead partner of all collaborations. Only those applicants that met all of the eligibility criteria and met the minimum threshold of the Selection Criteria were invited to submit a full application. Projects that are deemed ineligible for this first call under the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) may still be able to apply in subsequent calls.

45 consortia were invited to submit a full application to be received by 12.00 noon on 5th November. Since that date, the panel of international experts has been assessing the detailed applications against the same selection criteria as set out above and interviewing each consortium that submitted a valid application.

The DTIF Advisory Board has met in recent days to review the outcome of the international assessment of the projects and I will be provided with the recommendations of the Advisory Board in the near future. I expect to make an announcement about the first tranche of projects to receive an offer of DTIF funding later in December.

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