John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Tánaiste said, I have responsibility in the Department for issues relating to research, development and innovation, or RDI. I am happy to speak about the importance of innovation and to outline to members some of the activities being delivered under the programme B expenditure area. I am pleased that by comparison with the position at the start of 2016, an additional €65 million has been invested in research and innovation through my Department. This includes a supplementary allocation in late 2016. Since I took up this portfolio, it has been clear to me that innovation has a key function in driving productivity growth, which is the most sustainable basis for improving Ireland's economic growth and overall living standards. Innovation is central to Ireland's competitiveness and the ability of companies based in Ireland to compete internationally.

Key economic indicators show that firms which were not RDI-active suffered the greatest job losses during the recession, while innovation-active firms displayed higher resilience and growth in terms of rates of employment, exports and added value. Pay levels in RDI-active firms are 10% ahead of the average. Since 2006, the number of researchers working in the enterprise base has increased by 67% to over 17,800. This indicates that there has been a major increase in knowledge transfer from public research to the private sector, which represents significant progress on a central innovation policy objective.

The strong science and innovation base we have built up over the past decade and a half has yielded results in terms of economic and societal impact. When the European innovation scoreboard was published last June, I was pleased to note that Ireland was ranked first in the EU for SMEs innovating in-house and second for SMEs with product or process innovations. We must continue to ensure, therefore, Ireland has the capabilities it needs to develop, grow and attract innovative enterprises. Our investment in research and development and our highly-educated workforce is crucial to the development of an ecosystem from which success can emerge.

Investment in research and innovation through my Department is all about delivering tangible economic impacts. In 2017, under programme B expenditure, approximately €323 million will be invested in RDI programmes by my Department through its enterprise agencies, primarily Science Foundation Ireland and Enterprise Ireland. Further investments are being made through the Tyndall National Institute, the European Space Agency and the programme for research in third level institutions. I will highlight a few key achievements in the year to date.

Last month, we announced that €72 million will be invested over the next six years in four new world-class Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, research centres. Importantly, the new centres will be supported by 80 industry partners, which will provide €38 million to support cutting-edge basic and applied research with strong industry engagement, economic and social impact. This is an example of the collaboration between innovation, SFI, research and development and multinational companies, particularly in areas like pharmaceuticals and IT. The four new centres will focus their research work on important areas like advanced manufacturing; identifying alternatives to finite fossil fuel resources and the treatment of chronic and rare neurological diseases. The need to do research in these four important areas has been recognised across the world. We are doing it here in Ireland. Last month also saw the beginning of a €43 million five-year investment in the SFI investigator programme, which sees funding go directly to leading researchers and their teams. Projects receiving funding include work to develop new types of antibiotics and the development of magnetic materials for next-generation data processing.

We spoke earlier about Enterprise Ireland, which this year has continued to support research, development and innovation across our indigenous enterprise base. Over 30 commercialisation fund projects have been approved already this year. Equity investments have been made in 37 innovative high-potential start-ups. Over 600 collaborative projects between Irish-based companies and Irish higher education institutes are supported through a range of initiatives such as innovation vouchers, innovation partnerships and technology gateway projects at our institutes of technology.

A new meat technology centre was established by Enterprise Ireland in conjunction with Teagasc earlier this year to create a strategic research and innovation base in beef and sheep meat processing for this country. It brings to 14 the total number of technology centres that are supported by Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland. I am pleased to note that over 600 companies are working within these technology centres. This is phenomenal when taken as a percentage of the population. Our extremely high level of investment in other countries is one of the highest across Europe.

The value of European Space Agency contracts secured by industry has reached €5.47 million and is on track to reach its €12 million target for this year. Every €1 we invest in the European Space Agency leads to a return of between €6 and €8. The research and development work being done by the 62 companies across Ireland that are working within the agency are recognised across the world. I refer to the work being done by scientists and people with PhDs. Approximately €424 million of Horizon 2020 funding has been won by our researchers, companies and research organisations to date. While this positions us well to achieve our target of €1.25 billion, we must not be complacent about that. I am particularly pleased to note that over €94 million of this funding has been awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises through the Horizon 2020 SME instrument.

The Tyndall National Institute, which is recognised all over the world, is one of our greatest research institutes. It is the country's largest dedicated research centre. It operates in the ICT sector which, as we know, is of huge economic importance. At this point in the year, the institute is on track to deliver on its targets of €6 million in income through engagement with industry, collaboration with over 200 companies and Horizon 2020 drawdown of €7 million with 20 new projects funded.

Ireland has become a global innovation leader. We must continue to invest in research, development and innovation if we are to secure a vibrant and strong economy over the next ten, 15 or 20 years. We need a strong innovative enterprise base and growing employment, sales and exports. We have to be internationally competitive. I say that because as technology advances and drives industrial and economic growth in countries across Europe and the world over the next ten, 15 or 20 years, our scientists and researchers will have to be at the top in developing innovative projects. I think we are there. I will give a couple of examples in the area of research and development. Ireland is ranked third in the world in agricultural science, which is phenomenal. We are ranked first in the world in nanotechnology. We are in the top ten in the world for innovative scientific projects and research.

Our record in research and development is recognised by countries such as Japan, Korea, right across Europe and by bodies from the European Space Agency to NASA in the US. I think we are doing exceptionally well, really hitting above the belt. It is important that we continue to invest in innovative projects and in research and development.