Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A cross-governmental implementation group has been established to drive and ensure a coherent approach to the implementation of Innovation 2020. The group, chaired by my Department, consists of representatives from Government Departments, research funding agencies and the chief scientific adviser to the Government.

Innovation 2020 commits the implementation group to reporting annually to the Cabinet committee on the implementation of the strategy, including providing progress on the levels of investment required to reach our research and development investment target of 2.5% of GNP by 2020. In July of this year, a report on the progress of implementation to date was presented to the senior officials group and to the Cabinet committee on the economy, trade and jobs. The progress report was noted by Government on 19 July 2016. The progress report was published and is available at djei.ie.

A number of high-level national indicators with associated targets to 2020 have been selected to measure success in implementing the strategy. Effective and timely delivery of the range of actions in the strategy will also be key indicators of success. The delivery of key actions will also be monitored through the annual Action Plan for Jobs process. As the Minister, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, said, we are working on it with stakeholders and the Action Plan for Jobs 2017 will be published in February or March of 2017. A mid-term review will be carried out to ensure that we are on track for delivery and that any necessary adjustments can be made in a timely manner.

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