Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

The seventh EU Framework Programme for Research and Development, also known as FP7, with a budget of €55 billion for the period 2007 to 2013, is the EU's main instrument for funding research and development in Europe. FP7 offers Ireland's SMEs, multinationals and research institutions valuable opportunities to participate in high-calibre research collaborations with our European counterparts.

The framework programme enables companies to work with academic research groups and other industry players across Europe, as well as deriving the benefits associated with collaborative research. This enables them to gain benefits such as access to knowledge networks and specialist equipment, sharing costs and risks, and, in particular for industry, the possibility of opening up commercial opportunities.

The total funding secured by companies based in Ireland since the commencement of the seventh framework programme in 2007 - to November 2011, the latest figures available - is €87.8 million. The figure for 2011 was €25 million and the corresponding target for 2012 is €30 million. Of the €87.8 million secured by companies based in Ireland, €66.4 million went to SMEs and €21.4 million went to multinationals based in Ireland.

The European Commission's fourth monitoring report on FP7, covering the years 2007 to 2010 and published in August 2011, states that, in one of the main funding programmes within FP7, Ireland has the highest participation rate of SMEs of the EU 27. This is the rate of SME participation in FP7 compared to the population of SMEs in the country. The national target for drawdown by Ireland from FP7 over the seven-year period, for both industry and research institutions, is €600 million. To date, Ireland has secured €362 million under FP7 since it commenced in 2007. We are on track to reach our national target of €600 million when the programme ends in 2013.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

EU support for innovation is also provided through the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme, CIP, which runs from 2007 to 2013, and which has a budget of €3.6 billion. Unlike FP7, funding under the CIP does not go directly to companies; almost 50% of the funding is via European Investment Fund, EIF, guarantees which are provided to financial intermediaries, and the remainder is used to fund actions such as best practice exchanges and provision of information networks through the Enterprise Europe Network.

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