Thursday, 19 Apr 2018

Written Answers Nos. 203-213

IDA Ireland Portfolio

Ceisteanna (203)

Billy Kelleher

Ceist:

203. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation further to Parliamentary Question No. 112 of 25 January 2018, the available IDA Ireland lands at the end of the first quarter of 2018; the occupied IDA lands at the end of the first quarter of 2018, by county and town in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17303/18]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

The availability of an adequate supply of marketable serviced land and buildings in advance of demand is a key element in the IDA's ability to compete for mobile foreign direct investment. The availability of property solutions allows projects to commence at an earlier date by diminishing much of the difficulties associated with land acquisition, planning and construction. It is, therefore, an important means by which the IDA can encourage and attract new investors to Ireland.

The following tables list all IDA Ireland land available for marketing (Table A) and occupied IDA Ireland properties (Table B) as at the end of Quarter 4 of 2017. Further to Parliamentary Question No. 112 of 25 January 2018, I am informed by IDA Ireland that the most up to date information in relation to occupied and available IDA lands is from Q4 2017.

Table A

Property County	Property Town	Property Name	Hectares Available
County Carlow	Bagenalstown	Bagenalstown	0.1555
County Cavan	Cavan	Cavan B&T Park	9.05
County Cork	Youghal	Springfield Estate	1.87
County Cork	Youghal	Foxhole	1.0063
County Cork	Skibbereen	Poundlick Estate	3.86
County Cork	Kanturk	Mallow B & T Park	0.6831
County Cork	Kinsale	Rathhallikeen	0.1298
County Cork	Kanturk	Pulleen	2.47
County Cork	Fermoy	Rathealy	0.9407
County Cork	Cork City	Cork City Kilbarry B&T Park	57.53
County Cork	Carrigtohill	Carrigtohill B&T Park	11.08
County Cork	Charleville	Rathgoggan Estate	1.86
County Cork	Bantry	Drombrow	1.9627
County Cork	Bandon	Laragh Estate	1.37
County Cork	Cork City	Ringaskiddy	149.32
County Cork	Cork City	Cork B&T Park	0.42
County Cork	Cork City	Ringaskiddy Estate	0.2023
County Cork	Cork City	Rossa Ave	0.1152
County Cork	Millstreet	Millstreet IDA Estate	0.1133
County Cork	Fermoy	Fermoy B & T Park	6.05
County Cork	Carrigtohill East	Cork Carrigtohill East	53.1576
County Donegal	Ballyshannon	Ballyshannon	1.0672
County Donegal	Donegal/Tully/Clar/B	Lurganboy	0.872
County Donegal	Letterkenny	Knocknamona	1.35
County Donegal	Letterkenny/Manorcun	Letterkenny B & T Park	19.33
County Donegal	Letterkenny/Manorcun	Letterkenny Lisnenan 2	0.38
County Donegal	Letterkenny/Manorcun	Letterkenny B & T Park	2.6282
County Dublin	Dublin 24	Dublin 24 - Whitestown Ind Est	0.56
County Dublin	Dublin 11	Dublin 11 - Poppintree Ind. Est.	3.78
County Dublin	Blanchardstown	Cruiserath	27.1925
County Dublin	Blanchardstown	Blanchardstown B & T Park	10.4956
County Dublin	Dublin 12	Dubl 12 - Ballymount Ind. Est.	0.0249
County Dublin	Swords	Swords Bus. Park, Greenfields	2.04
County Dublin	Dublin 5	Belcamp - B & T Park	46.44
County Galway	Tuam	Tuam Business Park	1.4794
County Galway	Roundstone	Roundstone	1.42
County Galway	Mountbellew/Ballygar	Mountbellew Business Park	0.1979
County Galway	Gort	Gort Business Park	1.1217
County Galway	Glenamaddy	Glenamaddy Business Park	0.9105
County Galway	Galway City	Parkmore B&T Park (W&E)	26.75
County Galway	Ballygar	Ballygar Site	3.4398
County Galway	Ballinasloe	Ballinasloe B&T Park	8.88
County Galway	Tuam	Tuam Science & Technology Park	9.92
County Galway	Galway City	Oranmore Science & Tech Park	26.78
County Galway	Athenry	Athenry	92.4351
County Kerry	Killorglin	Farrantoreen	0.74
County Kerry	Killarney	Killarney B&T Park	1.14
County Kerry	Tralee	Acq c.1.0Ha Tralee	1
County Kildare	Newbridge	Newbridge Business Park	2.9339
County Kilkenny	Kilkenny	Purcellsinch Ind. Park	3.95
County Kilkenny	Kilkenny/Bennetsbrid	Kilkenny B&T Park	13.4
County Kilkenny	Belview	Belview	22.8
County Laois	Portlaoise	Portlaoise B&T Park	9.62
County Leitrim	Carrick-On-Shannon	Carrick-On-Shannon B & T Park	6.4
County Leitrim	Carrick-On-Shannon	Carrick-On-Shannon	0.1845
County Leitrim	Drumshanbo	Drumshanbo	0.2238
County Leitrim	Manorhamilton	Manorhamilton	0.9264
County Leitrim	Manorhamilton	Carrickleitrim	0.4208
County Leitrim	Mohill	Mohill	2.0693
County Limerick	Limerick	The National Technology Park	64.72
County Limerick	Limerick	Raheen Business Park	53.86
County Longford	Longford	Aghafad	2.0272
County Longford	Longford	Longford Industrial Estate	1.0176
County Louth	Greenore	Greenore	0.0272
County Louth	Dundalk	Dundalk Finnabair B&T Park	5.74
County Louth	Dundalk/Ravensdale	Dundalk Mullagharlin East	12.8
County Louth	Dundalk	Dundalk Mullagharlin	44.175
County Louth	Drogheda	Drogheda B&T Park	22.53
County Mayo	Ballina	Ballina Business Park	0.6
County Mayo	Bangor Erris	Bango Erris Industrial Park	0.607
County Mayo	Castlebar	Castlebar B&T Park	3.0897
County Mayo	Foxford	Foxford Business Park	0.6798
County Mayo	Ballina	Ballina	10.6141
County Meath	Navan Boyerstown Bro	Navan B&T Park	24.21
County Monaghan	Monaghan	Monaghan Business Park	7.53
County Offaly	Tullamore	Tullamore Industrial Estate	0.3541
County Offaly	Tullamore	Tullamore B&T Park	8
County Offaly	Clara	Clara	0.4872
County Roscommon	Roscommon	Roscommon B&T Park	4.63
County Roscommon	Castlerea	Station Rd	1.1735
County Sligo	Sligo	Cleveragh Business Park	0.3035
County Sligo	Easkey	Easkey Business Park	0.0611
County Sligo	Sligo	Finisklin B & T Park	10.97
County Sligo	Sligo	Sligo - Oakfield Site	31.3186
County Tipperary	Tipperary	Knockanrawley	2.08
County Tipperary	Clonmel	Clonmel Bus Park	20.071
County Waterford	Waterford	Waterford Industrial Estate	5.19
County Waterford	Waterford	Waterford B&T Park	23.88
County Waterford	Dungarvan	Dungarvan B & T Park	11.5675
County Westmeath	Mullingar	Clonmore Ind. Est.	6.8
County Westmeath	Athlone	Athlone B&T Park Garrycastle	11.3647
County Westmeath	Athlone	Garrankesh Estate	0.0926
County Westmeath	Mullingar	Mullingar B&T Park	22.5
County Wexford	Wexford	Wexford B&T Park	3.14
County Wexford	Wexford	Wexford Whitemills	0.066
County Wexford	Enniscorthy	Moyne Upper	0.39
County Wicklow	Arklow	Arklow Kilbride	0.1197
County Wicklow	Greystones	Greystones B&T Park	17.93
County Wicklow	Arklow	Arklow B&T Park	14.56

Table B

Property Name	Property Town	Property County
Cootehill	Cootehill	County Cavan
Mallow Quarterstown Estate	Mallow	County Cork
Brookpark	Dunmanway	County Cork
Underhill	Dunmanway	County Cork
Mahon Estate	Cork City	County Cork
Little Island Estate	Cork City	County Cork
Ballincollig	Cork City	County Cork
Plot 4 Roadway	Cork	County Cork
Letterkenny Ballyraine	Letterkenny/Manorcun	County Donegal
Windyhall	Letterkenny	County Donegal
Dublin - South County B&T Park	Dublin 18	County Dublin
Swords - Balheary	Swords	County Dublin
Dubl 5 - Clonshaugh Ind. Est.	Dublin 5	County Dublin
Baldoyle Industrial Estate	Dublin 13	County Dublin
Dubl 12 - Ballymount Ind. Est.	Dublin 12	County Dublin
Clondalkin Industrial Estate	Clondalkin	County Dublin
Cherry Orchard Ind. Est.	Dublin 10	County Dublin
Santry Ave Ind. Est.	Dublin 9	County Dublin
Portumna Business Park	Portumna	County Galway
Loughrea B&T Park	Loughrea/Tynagh	County Galway
Gort Business Park 2	Gort/Kinvara	County Galway
Ballybrit Business Park Lower	Galway	County Galway
Mervue B&T Park	Galway	County Galway
Athenry Business Park	Athenry	County Galway
Gortamullen Estate	Kenmare	County Kerry
Reenard Estate	Caherciveen	County Kerry
Meilita Road	Kildare	County Kildare
Monread Road	Naas	County Kildare
Kildare Town	Kildare	County Kildare
Castledermot	Castledermot	County Kildare
Townpark	Athy	County Kildare
Rathcronan	Ballinalee	County Longford
Coes Rd - Dundalk	Dundalk	County Louth
Ballinrobe Business Park	Ballinrobe	County Mayo
Charlestown Industrial Park	Charlestown	County Mayo
Castlebar Industrial Park	Castlebar	County Mayo
Ashbourne	Ashbourne	County Meath
Ballybay	Ballybay	County Monaghan
Edenderry Industrial Estate	Edenderry	County Offaly
Boyle Industrial Estate	Boyle	County Roscommon
Racecourse Road	Roscommon	County Roscommon
Castlerea Business Park	Castlerea	County Roscommon
Athlone Bunnavally	Athlone (Environs)	County Roscommon
Redmonstown	Clonmel	County Tipperary
Gurtnafleur	Clonmel	County Tipperary
Cashel	Cashel	County Tipperary
Spafield	Cashel	County Tipperary
Tallow	Tallow	County Waterford
Clogheran	Dungarvan	County Waterford
Cappoquin	Cappoquin	County Waterford
Gorey	Gorey	County Wexford
Arklow Cemetry Road,	Arklow	County Wicklow
Lisnenan Industrial Park	Ballybofey, Lisnenan	County Donegal
Ballinamore	Willowfield Road, Ballinamore	County Leitrim

Brexit Issues

Ceisteanna (204)

Billy Kelleher

Ceist:

204. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation if the strategic communications unit in the Department the Taoiseach will co-ordinate a national Brexit preparedness public information and awareness campaign in 2018 (details supplied); if meetings have taken place between her Departmental officials and advisers and State agencies under her remit with the strategic communications unit since this announcement; the body that will carry out this campaign if the unit is no longer in a position to complete this action; and the budget for this campaign. [17304/18]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

The Government’s extensive response to Brexit is already underway and includes measures such as:

- Enterprise Ireland’s €5,000 ‘Be Prepared’ grant for firms;

- Enterprise Ireland’s Brexit Scorecard;

- Bord Bia’s Brexit Barometer;

- InterTrade Ireland’s Brexit Advisory Service;

- the €300m Brexit Loan Scheme for Business;

- the €25m Brexit Response Loan Scheme for the agri-food sector;

- and the opening of six new diplomatic missions as part of Global Footprint 2025 .

One of the aims of the Action Plan for Jobs 2018 (APJ 2018) is to ensure Ireland’s enterprise base can be successful amid the uncertainty created by Brexit. The APJ2018 therefore sets out actions around increasing national, sectoral and firm level preparedness to ensure that companies exposed to Brexit anticipate the need for change, respond and adapt. This includes a national Brexit preparedness public information and awareness campaign.

As stated in the APJ2018, this campaign will involve my Department along with the Departments of An Taoiseach, Foreign Affairs & Trade, and other relevant Departments and Agencies. Plans for the campaign remain under consideration. None of my officials, advisers nor the State agencies under my Department’s aegis have met the Strategic Communications Unit since the launch of the APJ2018 on March 9th 2018.

Skills Development

Ceisteanna (205)

Billy Kelleher

Ceist:

205. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the measures she is taking to enhance enterprise policy to upskill workers in employment; and the actions set out in the Action Plan for Jobs 2018 and in Enterprise 2025 Renewed towards this objective. [17305/18]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

My Department’s enterprise policy has a strong focus on upskilling workers in employment. This can be seen in numerous ways including through policy documents such as the Action Plan for Jobs 2018 and Enterprise 2025 Renewed, and through my Department’s continued engagement with the Department of Education and Skills.

The Action Plan for Jobs 2018 has four immediate key aims. One of which is ensuring that workforce have the incentives and skills needed to prosper. The APJ has a dedicated chapter on participation, employment and meeting skills needs. Actions on enhancing enterprise policy to upskill workers in employment include:

The Roll out of the Skills for Growth Programme: Skills for Growth will include a package of supports for employers to help them understand and plan for their skills needs. This will include workshops to support companies to identify skills gaps and develop company skills plans, access to a new skills audit tool, and one-on-one assistance from a Regional Skills Forum Manager to use this tool and plan for the future.

Develop training initiatives to improve in-company capability: This will involve the implementation of the Finance Pillar of Enterprise Ireland’s Client Engagement Model for assessing client’s financial management capability their need for appropriate short and long-term funding.

Aligning skills supply with enterprise needs: This will be achieved through the support of up to 6,200 apprenticeship registrations, 3,900 traineeship enrolments and development of 10 new apprenticeship programmes in sectors of the economy with identified skills needs. This will also include engagement with SME owners and managers with the view to develop a Management Development offering and a competitive call to HEIs for proposals for Springboard+ courses.

Publish and implement successor to the ICT Skills Action Plan: The availability of appropriate skills for developing, implementing and using information and communication technology (ICT) is an important condition for the competitiveness and innovation of the economy. My Department is working in conjunction with the Department of Education and Skills on producing a successor to the 2014-2018 ICT Action Plan.

Conduct and publish a study on Skills for the Digital Economy: The acquisition of new skills is vital to keep pace with advances in technology and the availability of the right skills is a key enabler of enterprise performance and growth. The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs will undertake this study to ensure that the workforce is equipped with the requisite skills to fully unlock the benefits of the digital economy.

Enterprise 2025 Renewed reaffirms that the fundamentals of our enterprise policy remain sound – export-led growth underpinned by innovation and talent. The Review, taken in the context of more recent global change, has placed a priority on talent and skills.

The strategy sets out a range of actions many of which are being progressed by my Department (and others by the Department of Education and Skills) as appropriate. They include:

Addressing the likely increased demand for new skills post-Brexit including customs, logistics, risk management, supply chain management, international selling and foreign technical language capability, based on analysis to identify specific actions needed.

Engaging with enterprise to deliver impactful initiatives that meet the changing needs of business through a refocused National Training Fund, taking into consideration delivery throughout the regions of Ireland, to deliver skills-based employment that can support productivity-led wage increases.

Expanding the reach, engagement and impact of the Regional Skills Fora to build on progress made to date.

Providing alternative education and training options through secondary schools, work places etc., to help people make the right choices for themselves and to stimulate continuous learning.

Through the actions and initiatives mentioned above, my Department and the Department of Education and Skills will continue to ensure that enterprise policy supports the upskilling of those in employment to allow for an adequate and appropriately skilled workforce.

Credit Guarantee Scheme Data

Ceisteanna (206)

Billy Kelleher

Ceist:

206. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the value of drawdowns issued under the credit guarantee scheme on 31 December 2016 and 31 December 2017; and the value of approvals for the same period of each drawdown and approval by county in tabular form. [17306/18]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

The Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) has been in operation since 2012, and as of 31 December 2017, 530 loans to the value of €84,396,594 have been sanctioned by participating lenders under the scheme. The CGS is currently operated on behalf of the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI).

While the benefit of a guarantee is offered to a borrower under the scheme, some borrowers do not proceed with the guarantee. A significant number of cases are listed as ‘Pending’ by the participating lenders, and the operator only holds partial information on such cases. As a result, it is not possible to quantify the drawdowns of loans considered under the scheme. A breakdown of sanctioned loans where county information is known is provided in the attached document.

In addition, Quarterly Reports providing full details of the latest Credit Guarantee Scheme performance are published on my Department’s website www.dbei.gov.ie.

Modification to the Credit Guarantee Scheme legislation was provided for in Statutory Instruments in late 2017 to give effect to necessary changes in the operation of the Scheme. I would expect that these changes will see enhanced use of the scheme in future years.

The CGS is one element of a suite of supports which when combined with other Government initiatives such as Microfinance Ireland, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, the Credit Review Office and the Prompt Payment Code should enable companies to expand, service new markets and grow employment.

I note that the amount of lending sanctioned under the credit guarantee scheme for the 12 months to 31 December 2017 was €19,726,700.

2017

Year	No. Of Facilities Sanctioned	Amount of CGS Facilities Sanctioned
2012	6	€582,000
2013	88	€12,107,500
2014	68	€9,283,344
2015	108	€20,385,050
2016	131	€22,312,000
2017	129	€19,726,700
Total as at 31st December 2017	530	€84,396,594

Status	No. of CGS Facilities	Amount of Lending
CGS loans sanctioned by Lenders since launch	530	€84,396,594
Declined or Cancelled by the customer	67	€11,171,250
Declined by the lender	3	€180,000
Ineligible	3	€467,000
CGS Facilities at 31st December 2017	457	€72,578,344

County	Amount of Lending
Carlow	€1,770,000
Cavan	€0
Clare	€927,000
Cork	€5,076,000
Donegal	€197,000
Dublin	€31,981,200
Galway	€3,780,500
Kerry	€2,610,000
Kildare	€4,512,000
Kilkenny	€0
Laois	€1,606,950
Leitrim	€1,000,000
Limerick	€7,445,594
Longford	€0
Louth	€1,637,000
Mayo	€953,100
Meath	€1,535,000
Monaghan	€250,000
Offaly	€790,000
Roscommon	€80,000
Sligo	€57,000
Tipperary	€1,121,000
Waterford	€1,000,000
Westmeath	€1,522,000
Wexford	€1,266,000
Wicklow	€1,461,000
Total	€72,578,344

2016

Year	No. Of Facilities Sanctioned	Amount of CGS Facilities Sanctioned
2012	6	€582,000
2013	88	€12,107,500
2014	68	€9,283,344
2015	108	€20,385,050
2016	131	€22,772,000
Total as at 31st December 2016	401	€64,669,894

Status	No. of CGS Facilities	Amount of Lending
CGS loans sanctioned by Lenders since launch	401	€64,669,894
Declined or Cancelled by the customer	62	€10,615,000
Declined by the lender	3	€180,000
Ineligible	3	€467,000
CGS Facilities at 31st December 2016	333	€53,407,894

County	Amount of Lending
Carlow	€1,770,000
Cavan	€0
Clare	€667,000
Cork	€3,348,000
Donegal	€197,000
Dublin	€24,182,000
Galway	€2,241,500
Kerry	€1,210,000
Kildare	€3,285,000
Kilkenny	€295,000
Laois	€1,916,950
Leitrim	€1,000,000
Limerick	€4,375,344
Longford	€0
Louth	€1,160,000
Mayo	€733,100
Meath	€795,000
Monaghan	€250,000
Offaly	€540,000
Roscommon	€80,000
Sligo	€57,000
Tipperary	€1,071,000
Waterford	€750,000
Westmeath	€1,057,000
Wexford	€1,266,000
Wicklow	€1,161,000

Job Losses

Ceisteanna (207)

Billy Kelleher

Ceist:

207. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the actions she has taken to protect jobs at a company (details supplied); the supports in place for employees that will be made redundant; if she has spoken with the management of the company regarding these job losses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17307/18]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

I am very conscious of the anxiety that the announcement of possible job losses by the company concerned creates for the workers there.  My first thoughts are with these workers and their families as well as their local communities as they receive this difficult news.

I understand that the company in question are planning to achieve cost savings by driving simplification of its products and processes to deliver greater efficiency across its operating systems.  They are seeking to realign their cost bases to match the leaner and more agile organisation that they need to become.  Therefore, they are proposing a voluntary incentivised exit scheme which will be open to most employees. It is proposed that any redundancies that will result because of the restructure will be on a voluntary basis and the locations will depend on the level of uptake.

Regarding these possible job losses, Ireland has a robust suite of employment rights legislation, which offers extensive protections to employees.  The Workplace Relations Commission is mandated to secure compliance with employment rights legislation.  Workplace Relations information personnel are available to meet staff of the affected companies, either individually or collectively, to discuss their employment rights.  The Workplace Relations Customer Service Section can be contacted at http://www.workplacerelations.ie or Lo-call: 1890 80 80 90.  The website also provides extensive information on employment rights. 

In addition, the State provides industrial relations mechanisms to assist parties in their efforts to resolve any differences they may have.

I understand that the company concerned is not a client of the State Development Agencies, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, or the Local Enterprise Offices. 

Employment retention and creation continues to be the primary objective of this Government and we have been working hard to create the improved economic conditions which will support the maintenance of existing jobs and the creation of new ones.   Since becoming Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, I have made jobs and enterprise in the regions my top priority.

The Regional Action Plan for Jobs initiative is a central pillar of the Government’s ambition to create 200,000 new jobs by 2020. A key objective of each of the 8 regional plans is to have a further 10 to 15 per cent at work in each region by 2020, with the unemployment rate of each region not more than one percentage point greater than the national average.  Progress across the eight regions has been very positive since the launch of the initiative, with an increase in employment of 8.5% or 118,600 jobs in the regions outside of Dublin and 166,800 additional jobs nationwide, from Q1 2015 to Q2 2017.

The Local Enterprise offices - or LEOs - are available to support anyone with a business idea and who wants to consider entrepreneurship as a career option. I would urge anyone who was made redundant or who is in danger of losing their job to contact with their local LEO to explore available options. Further information can be found on the LEO website at www.localenterprise.ie.

I am confident that the measures outlined in the Regional Action Plans for Jobs together with other policies being pursued by the State agencies and the Local Enterprise Offices will continue to support enterprise development and provide employment opportunities.  

Research and Development Data

Ceisteanna (208)

Billy Kelleher

Ceist:

208. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the most recent data for Ireland’s ranking in each international table for research and development; and the target originally set by the Government for each such ranking in tabular form. [17309/18]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

Innovation 2020, Ireland’s strategy for research and development, science and technology, sets out Ireland’s ambition to be a Global Innovation Leader.  Benchmarking Ireland’s performance against other comparable economies is a key tool to enable the delivery of that ambition and to enable us to develop steps to improve our comparative performance.

The European Commission annually produces the European Innovation Scoreboard which sets out Member States’ performance against a range of indicators and assists countries in tracking progress and identifying priorities.  The 2017 Scoreboard was published by the European Commission in June 2017, with Ireland placed 10th overall and categorised as a Strong Innovator, performing above the EU average. The Commission noted that Ireland’s performance increased strongly (6.9 percentage points).

Ireland remains the overall leader in the innovators dimension which demonstrates how innovative Irish SMEs are as European leaders in product, process and marketing innovation.  In addition, Ireland achieved first place in the employment impacts dimension which captures employment in knowledge intensive activities and in fast-growing sectors.

Ireland also performs very well in the Human Resources dimension, in particular in the sub-indicator of population with tertiary education where Ireland scores higher than all of those Member States in the Innovation Leader group.

While Ireland has not set specific targets for other international rankings, my Department closely monitors performance on a number of other indices and scoreboards, such as:

The Global Innovation Index (June 2017) in which Ireland is ranked 10th out of 128 countries. Within this, Ireland is placed first for knowledge diffusion and second for knowledge impact.

In the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (June 2017) Ireland is ranked 6th out of 63 countries, and is recognised as the second most competitive economy within the EU and Euro area. Ireland achieved top ranking position in a number of important sub indicators including investment incentives, labour productivity, flexibility and adaptability, and attracting and retaining talent.

According to IBM Global Location Trends (August 2017), Ireland remains the number one destination for value for money from foreign direct investment.

With regard to scientific rankings, Ireland is placed 11th globally for overall scientific research quality (Thomson Reuters Essential Science Indicators, June 2017), achieving second place in nanotechnology, animal and dairy, and immunology.

Research and Development Data

Ceisteanna (209)

Billy Kelleher

Ceist:

209. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the ranking of Ireland in the EU on total public expenditure on research and development based on the most recent data; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17310/18]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

The tables attached show that Ireland ranks 15th out of 28 EU countries in terms of Government Budget Allocations for R&D (GBARD) in 2016 and 18th out of 28 EU countries in terms of its GBARD as a percentage of total Government expenditure in 2016. 2016 is the latest data available. Source of data: Eurostat.

-	GEO/TIME	2016
	European Union (current composition)	94,942.90
	Euro area (19 countries)	73,166.04
1	Germany (until 1990 former territory of the FRG)	27,470.45
2	France	14,048.17
3	United Kingdom	12,504.21
4	Italy	8,734.10
5	Spain	6,055.26
6	Netherlands	4,926.04
7	Sweden	3,631.78
8	Austria	2,875.71
9	Belgium	2,686.30
10	Denmark	2,562.22
11	Finland	1,836.42
12	Portugal	1,678.81
13	Czech Republic	1,035.15
14	Greece	946.26
15	Ireland	719.30
16	Poland	678.70
17	Romania	475.97
18	Hungary	449.52
19	Croatia	343.47
20	Luxembourg	324.21
21	Slovakia	302.26
22	Slovenia	162.77
23	Estonia	145.15
24	Lithuania	122.18
25	Bulgaria	95.85
26	Cyprus	59.79
27	Latvia	52.60
28	Malta	20.25

Share of government budget appropriations or outlays on research and development % of total general government expenditure

-	geo\time	2016
1	Portugal	2.01
2	Germany	1.98
3	Denmark	1.73
4	Estonia	1.72
5	Netherlands	1.61
6	Austria	1.61
7	Sweden	1.57
8	Croatia	1.56
9	Finland	1.53
10	Czech Republic	1.49
11	Luxembourg	1.45
	Euro area (19 countries)	1.42
	EU (28 countries)	1.37
12	Spain	1.28
13	United Kingdom	1.25
14	Belgium	1.19
15	France	1.12
16	Greece	1.10
17	Italy	1.05
18	Ireland	0.97
19	Lithuania	0.92
20	Slovenia	0.90
21	Slovakia	0.90
22	Cyprus	0.86
23	Hungary	0.84
24	Romania	0.81
25	Latvia	0.58
26	Bulgaria	0.57
27	Malta	0.54
28	Poland	0.39

Research and Development Data

Ceisteanna (210)

Billy Kelleher

Ceist:

210. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the level of public research and development intensity as measured as a percentage of GDP in each of the years 2005 to 2017; and the figure budgeted for in 2018, in tabular form. [17311/18]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

The Government Budget Allocations for R&D (GBARD) as a percentage of GDP, GNP and the GBARD trend 2005-2017 are available at the link below. Estimates for 2018 are not available yet as the R and D Budget Survey 2018 is currently in the field.

GBARD.

Research and Development Data

Ceisteanna (211)

Billy Kelleher

Ceist:

211. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the capital expenditure in public research and development in each of the years 2005 to 2017; the figure budgeted for in 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17312/18]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

The attached table shows capital expenditure for publicly funded R and D in Ireland for 2005-2017. In addition to Irish Government funding, capital R and D expenditure is funded by the European Commission. These figures are also shown in the table. The figure for 2018 is not yet available as the R and D Budget Survey is in the field.

€ thousands	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Ireland Total Public Capital R&D Expenditure	113,933.5	94,351.5	163,370.5	187,835.6	138,298.0	112,736.0	85,100.0
Of which:
European Commission Capital Funding	1,703.0	225.0	2,901.0	3,936.0	1,733.0	1,176.0	1,697.0

table contd.

€ thousands	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Ireland Total Public Capital R&D Expenditure	72,413.0	58,768.0	66,681.0	75,812.0	71,350.0	93,125.0
Of which:
European Commission Capital Funding	1,408.0	1,460.0	656.0	1,407.0	1,962.0	1,737.0

Brexit Supports

Ceisteanna (212)

Billy Kelleher

Ceist:

212. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation if further Exchequer funding was allocated to the Brexit loan scheme and her views on whether it would reduce the interest rate further. [17318/18]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

The Brexit Loan Scheme launched on 28 March provides affordable financing to eligible Irish businesses either currently impacted by Brexit or which will be in the future. The €300 million scheme is being delivered by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) through participating finance providers (currently Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank, with AIB to follow in June) to get much needed working capital into Irish businesses.

The finance is easier to access, more competitively priced and at more favourable terms than current offerings, with a maximum interest rate of 4%.  This maximum rate of 4% represents a substantial discount for working capital loans compared to current market offerings.  It is also likely to incentivise competition amongst on-lenders, which would yield long-term structural benefits for Irish businesses, by  supporting the development of a functioning and competitive commercial market. If the financing provided by the scheme is at too low a rate, there is the potential of distorting the wider credit market and irresponsibly creating a dependence on artificially low interest rates.  Further reductions in the rate  could also give rise to State aid issues.  

Economic Competitiveness

Ceisteanna (213)

Billy Kelleher

Ceist:

213. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation her views on the National Competitiveness Council's recommendation to undertake a benchmarking exercise comparing Ireland’s performance across a range of key competitiveness metrics with the UK; if this has been completed; and if not, the reason therefor. [17319/18]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) reports to Government on key competitiveness and productivity issues facing the economy and offers recommendations on policy actions required to enhance Ireland’s competitiveness. The NCC is independent of Government and under its Terms of Reference is responsible for the management and direction of its own work programme.

Since the UK referendum, the NCC has addressed the implications of Brexit in several publications. The Council’s Competitiveness Challenge 2016 report published in December 2016 contained a specific chapter in relation to Brexit. This outlined a range of issues which will require policy attention to support Irish firms trading with or dependent on UK markets, and to ensure that Ireland is best placed to withstand the challenges posed by Brexit.  With regard to the Council's recommendation that a benchmarking exercise comparing Ireland’s performance across a range of key competitiveness metrics with the UK, the Council published a report Benchmarking Competitiveness: Ireland and the UK in April 2017, which provides an assessment of Ireland's current competitiveness performance with specific reference to the UK, to establish areas where policy attention could enhance Ireland’s competitiveness.

Throughout 2017 and into 2018 the NCC in its work and reports has continued to place an increased policy emphasis on Irish competitiveness relative to the UK and to benchmarking Ireland’s relative performance with specific reference to the UK.