Ms Rowena Dwyer:

Similar to Mr. Donoghue, I shall give some practical examples. The opportunities that are available to enterprises in Ireland in the area of clean technology have been mentioned. Enterprise Ireland, recognising that there are opportunities in renewable energy, energy efficiency, smart services, etc., has had a designated sectoral grouping of what we call our clean-tech clients for a number of years. Similar to all other Enterprise Ireland clients, the members of this group are supported in their research and innovation, in their competitiveness and in areas such as management development in order to make them better at realising opportunities. Enterprise Ireland supports the enterprises in this sector to realise opportunities. Very importantly, Enterprise Ireland builds a lot of awareness among companies of what other companies provide in terms of services. While a lot of work is done to make companies aware of energy efficiency and how it can impact on their business, there is also an ecosystem by means of which companies are brought together in order to make them aware of the services others provide and to generate opportunities.

Enterprise Ireland is a co-ordinator for the EU's research programme Horizon 2020. Irish companies have secured a significant amount of funding in recent years in the area of energy efficiency, grid integration and ocean energy in particular. The companies are supported by Enterprise Ireland and the other agencies to win research funding thus improving their understanding and ability to deliver services and products in this area that will make them market leaders.