Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 May 2018
103. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of applicants that received funding under Enterprise Ireland’s agile innovation fund in each of the years 2014 to 2017 and to date in 2018 by county; the number that received funding by firm size of less than ten, 11 to 49, 50 to 249 and more than 250 employees; and the amount paid out by county and by firm size in tabular form. [22976/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraEnterprise Ireland supports companies across Ireland to start, innovate and remain competitive in international markets, now and into the future. Enterprise Ireland’s focus for 2018 is to help clients build on the strength of their 2017 performance by supporting them to innovate, be competitive and to diversify their global footprint - key attributes required to be resilient to economic shocks, such as Brexit.
Innovation is at the centre of Enterprise Ireland’s strategy, Build Scale, Expand Reach 2017 – 2020. Innovation enables companies to develop tailored products and services for global customers. It also enables companies to develop efficient processes to support their competitive offering. This support includes grant funding for companies.
Enterprise Ireland provides grant support for companies to carry out in-house research and development, and also to harness the knowledge and expertise of the Higher Education Sector.
In November 2017, Enterprise Ireland launched a new fast-track Agile Innovation Fund to give companies rapid access to innovation funding. This fund supports companies in sectors with rapid design cycles to maintain their technology position. The benefits of this grant are that it allows for a very simple application process and delivers a very fast response from application to approval. This fund allows companies to access up to 50% in support for product, process or service development projects up to a total cost of €300,000.
The Agile Innovation Fund has recently opened for applications for funding, which are currently being processed. To date nine companies have been approved funding under this initiative, although no payments have been made as yet. It is envisaged that grant approvals under this initiative will come online over the coming weeks.
