Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 November 2017
44. Deputy James Lawless asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which philanthropy or external non-State support is available to support research and development activities here; the agencies or organisations that are involved in such projects; the criteria that are applied to funding applications in each case; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48545/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that I am addressing this question in the context of which monies have been provided by my Department to the agencies and bodies under its aegis to support research and development activities. In this context, the information being provided relates to Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and PRTLI through the Higher Education Authority (HEA). Due to the large number of programmes and criteria involved, I have set out specific details for the Deputy in a separate Appendix which has been provided to him.
Science Foundation Ireland
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has demonstrated that the research groups which it funds leverage almost much funding from non-exchequer sources as they receive annually from SFI. In 2016, SFI funded researchers leveraged €133 million from non-exchequer sources from a total SFI grants budget of €184 million. The breakdown of the €133 million is provided as follows.
Funding Leveraged Non-Irish Exchequer
- Charity/Non-Profit Organisation (International): 1,617,986
- Charity/Non-Profit Organisation (Irish): 672,125
- European Union - variety of programmes: 71,370,495
- National Institute of Health USA (NIH): 3,247,667
- National Science Foundation US (NSF): 274,421
- Other International Interest Organisation: 1,938,169
- Other Source: 7,392,319
- Private Enterprise: 44,826,760
- Wellcome Trust: 2,094,121
- Grand Total: 133,434,062.
SFI has a number of programmes in place to encourage and facilitate leverage of funding from non-State sources. More detailed information is set out for the Deputy in the Appendix provided to him.
Enterprise Ireland
In addition, Enterprise Ireland (EI) also provides a number of innovation and development supports aimed at assisting companies with product, process and service development. These supports position companies to deal with key challenges from access to new technologies and skills to being better positioned to deal with economic and market changes. While most of Enterprise Ireland’s Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) activities are funded by the State, there are a number of examples of where Enterprise Ireland facilities companies and academics to access non-State supports from other sources of international funding. More detailed information is set out for the Deputy in the Appendix provided to him.
Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI)
The Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions has been an important funding programme in developing research capacity within the higher education system in Ireland. Approximately €1.2BN of public and private funding has been invested through over the five cycles of the Programme, since it’s commencement in 1998. This €1.2BN investment includes €277m of matching funding. This matching funding was derived from non-State funds, including private donations and own institution funds.
To date, PRTLI has brought together a significant base of both government and philanthropic funding to build research capacity and embed a research culture across the higher education sector. A particular feature of Cycles 1 -3 was the provision of philanthropic funding of €178m by Atlantic Philanthropies.
I am conscious of the impact that Exchequer funding has had in the past in enabling the attraction of other sources of funding for research and development activities in this State. State funded infrastructure and consortia are a key attractor of matching funds from private (non-State) sources. I am keen to ensure that future our future research and development activities continue to leverage investment from other sources.
