John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Horizon 2020, with a budget of just under €80 billion and covering the period 2014 to 2020, is the European Union's largest ever research and innovation programme. It is also the largest such programme worldwide. Horizon 2020 is a core part of the Europe 2020 strategy, the innovation union and the European research area and is responding to the economic crisis in Europe by investing in future jobs and growth, addressing people's concerns about their livelihoods, safety and environment and strengthening the EU's global position in research, innovation and technology. Under the seventh framework programme for research, technological development and innovation 2007-13, Ireland secured almost €600 million and thereby achieved the national target set for Irish participation.

The objectives of Horizon 2020 are to enable the creation of a world-class research system for Europe, support European leadership in industrial development and address grand challenges affecting society. My Department, building on the performance under the seventh framework programme, has been instrumental in putting in place an all-of-Government strategy to maximise the funding available to Ireland. In December 2013, the Government approved a national strategy for participation in Horizon 2020 and set an ambitious target of €1.25 billion - a huge amount - in respect of funding to Ireland over the lifetime of the programme. The strategy sets out a comprehensive range of actions designed to maximise Ireland's participation in the programme and achieve the target involved.

A Horizon 2020 high level group, under the chairmanship of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, has been established and its work will include identifying key areas of opportunity where Irish researchers, agencies and companies - the latter is important in the context of the Deputy's question - can maximise their participation. A support network of national contact points co-ordinated by Enterprise Ireland has been established. This network comprises knowledgeable and experienced practitioners from relevant Departments who have been charged with the job of delivery. The national strategy for Horizon 2020 also provides for all relevant Government Departments and agencies to allocate the necessary resources for its full implementation. The high level group will monitor Ireland’s participation under the programme, as well as implementation of the national strategy.

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