Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 May 2019
255. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which innovation continues to be a feature of enterprise and investment here; if she remains satisfied that new enterprises have adequate access to innovation technology and-or appropriate assistance from the European Union; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20893/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraInnovation 2020, Ireland's strategy for research and development, science and technology, was launched in December 2015 and articulates Ireland’s ambition to become a Global Innovation Leader. The strategy aims to build on the significant successes which have seen Ireland dramatically improve its innovation performance globally.
Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) is globally recognised as the key economic differentiator and, as such, a very important feature of enterprise and investment in Ireland.
RDI enables Irish companies to make innovative products and services that are competitive and more novel than those in global markets. However, for an SME investment in RDI can be costly in terms of time, personnel and budget. It also requires a focus beyond the day to day challenges of running a business with limited resources.
Enterprise Ireland (EI) has a role in this regard to de-risk such RDI so that companies will develop new and improved products and services and achieve the required exports to allow economic growth. This is done either by supporting companies to do RDI within the company, or by collaborating with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) or by sourcing / licensing new technologies from HEIs which can provide a step change in their innovative capabilities. These supports all help companies to develop new and improved products and services which serve as the basis for sustainable economic growth.
SMEs qualify for all of EI’s funding programmes and a limited number of these programmes are also open to FDI companies. These supports all help companies develop new and improved products and services which serve as the basis for sustainable economic growth and are detailed below:
- In-Company RDI - supporting the development of new or substantially improved products, services or processes which will have a competitive advantage in their target market. This enables companies to increase employment through sustainable and substantially increased sales;
- The Agile Innovation Fund - this Fund allows up to 50% in support for projects to a maximum total cost of €300,000 and has fast track approval;
- Innovation Vouchers - providing vouchers worth €5,000 aims to introduce them to innovation, linking them with a network of knowledge providers, North and South of the border;
- Innovation Partnerships - helping industry to engage in collaborative research projects with Irish universities and Institutes of Technology to develop new products and services;
- Technology Gateways - providing Business Development resources to the Institutes of Technology and other firms to help them interact with industry on a local, regional and national basis;
- Technology Centres - a partnership between EI and IDA Ireland, are organised to respond rapidly to industry defined needs and conduct market-relevant RDI in partnership with collaborating groups of companies. Participating companies propose areas and themes of greatest relevance to them over a 3-5 year period. In response, the researchers develop solutions that respond to these needs, often exploring avenues that can lead to new licensable intellectual property;
- Campus Incubators – such facilities are internationally recognised as an important element of public assistance for technology-intensive start-ups. Incubators now exist on every university and Institute of technology Campus in the country.;
- The Business Innovation Initiative (BII) is aimed at driving innovation beyond selling products based on technical innovations; in turn providing more customer focussed process and service solutions;
- The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Initiative is a cross-government process that allows public bodies to use public procurement to source RDI and innovative solutions to solve ‘identified challenges’ with solutions that are not currently commercially available. This provides significant business opportunities for innovation focused companies.
High Potential Start Up (HPSU) support is EI’s most significant and relevant support available for new start-ups. HPSUs are start-up businesses with the potential to develop an innovative product or service for sale on international markets and the potential to create 10 jobs and €1m in sales within 3 to 4 years of starting up. A range of supports are available under the HPSU offer such as the:
- Innovative HPSU Fund - providing support to early stage companies considered to have an innovative product, service or technology with the potential to achieve international sales and create employment. It is an equity investment into HPSU clients on a co-funded basis to support the company’s business plan. This offer also leverages private investments to help the company grow and succeed in the implementation of their business plans;
- New Frontiers Programme - a national entrepreneur development programme delivered locally through the Institutes of Technology (IoTs) and funded by EI.
- Competitive Start Fund (CSF) – aimed at accelerating the growth of start-up companies that have the capability to become HPSU companies.
The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are placing a strong focus on innovation as a central platform for micro enterprise development through access to the following supports:
- Agile RD&I
- Innovation Partnerships
- Innovation Vouchers
- Innovation Mentors/Advocates
Under the Future Jobs Ireland strategy, the Government is tackling lower productivity levels in indigenous firms in order to achieve sustainable wage growth. LEOs can play their part in this strategy by promoting indigenous entrepreneurship, especially in the regions; in encouraging clustering and stronger links between domestic and foreign owned firms; and help in assisting businesses to move up the value chain.
Assistance from the European Union continues to play a vital role in supporting innovation in enterprises operating in Ireland, both indigenous SMEs and foreign-owned multinational companies. EI also has supports in place to help companies maximise the funding they can receive from the European Union.
Horizon 2020 is the instrument which supports collaborative R&D in Europe and provides an important source of non-exchequer funding for companies. It enables us to amplify the impact of domestic public investment by leveraging complementary funding from the EU.
Horizon 2020 has a budget of €75 billion and runs from 2014 to 2020. A budget of €30 billion has been allocated to the final three years of Horizon 2020, which will provide significant funding opportunities for companies in Ireland that participate in the programme over the period 2018-2020. Ireland has won €709.5 million from 2014 to April 2019 in competitive EU funding from Horizon 2020. Higher Education Institutions accounted for €390.4 million of the total and companies, €237.4 million. The funding for companies included €147.1 million awarded to SMEs.
Under Horizon 2020, the SME Instrument is available and is specifically targeted at individual or groups of highly innovative SMEs with international ambitions, determined to turn strong, innovative business ideas into winners on the market. The instrument provides full-cycle business innovation supports ranging from business idea conception and planning, to business plan execution and demonstration and also to commercialisation.
Results from the 2017-2018 Business Expenditure on Research and Development survey, recently released by the CSO, show that almost €2.8bn was spent on research and development activities by enterprises in Ireland in 2017. This represents an increase of 24% compared with actual expenditure in 2015 and is the largest biennial increase in the last 10 years.
