Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

If I understood the question correctly, it related to the various programmes that exist across the institutes of technology, through Enterprise Ireland and so on. There is significant potential under Horizon 2020. The negotiations on the €80 billion package were concluded during the Irish Presidency, an effort to which the team that is behind me today was integral. Through Enterprise Ireland we have set up a national support network which will includes most of the State funders of research, including the Environmental Protection Agency, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Health Research Board, Irish Research Council, Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland. What we have here is a set of national contact points which will liaise with the institutes of technology and with individual entities within the universities. These are the go-to contacts for industry and academics.

We are targeting an increase in regard to the number of small and medium-sized enterprises that are engaged with programmes like Horizon 2020. We have raised the bar up to 20% engagement in terms of a drawdown of funding. The funding target is some €1.25 billion, which should present significant opportunities for the SME sector.