Mr. Pat Kelly:

In regard to Horizon 2020, during the negotiations Ireland took the lead in asking Europe to increase the participation of SMEs. The target for the current framework programme had been 15%, but we wanted to push that up and we pushed it up successfully, with the support of other member states. Ireland led this and we got the percentage up to a 20% target. This means there are now specific SME-friendly instruments in the next programme - Horizon 2020 - which will ensure greater participation of SMEs. We saw this as important to assist indigenous industry. There is plenty there for the larger companies, but we wanted to do more for the SME sector in particular.