Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I mentioned the commercialisation fund allocated by Enterprise Ireland to universities. It is substantial and will dramatically increase the capacity of universities and institutes of technology to commercialise their research.

The Deputy is aware that the budget was significant in terms of incentives to invest capital in new companies and businesses. In line with the recommendations of the Small Business Forum which I established and through which I was anxious to set a blueprint for small businesses, we enhanced the business expansion scheme significantly by raising investor limits and the amount of money that could be raised by companies. We did likewise with the seed capital investment scheme. We lightened the regulatory burden in respect of VAT returns for small to medium-sized companies. By developing an innovation voucher scheme for micro-enterprises and knowledge acquisition grant schemes for small to medium-sized companies we are also in line with the forum's recommendations.

Last year we launched the most significant venture capital fund in the history of the State. The Government provided up to €175 million through Enterprise Ireland for a new capital venture round which we hope will leverage a sum of approximately €1 billion in investment in new and start-up companies. In the budget we provided for an enhanced research and development tax credit to provide incentives for more investment, not just by multinational companies, but also by Irish-owned businesses. We want to see a greater participation rate in research and development in the manufacturing and services sectors, in particular. We have tried to switch investment from construction to production. The budget which received a warm welcome among the small to medium-sized business community delivered almost 100% on the forum's recommendations. Married with the venture capital fund and the research and development tax credit, we expect to see higher levels of investment.

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