John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 16 together.

My Department recently secured Cabinet approval for the provision of a capital investment package of €60 million for expenditure in 2016. This will include €49 million for innovation, including the areas of research and development, science and technology. It includes funding of €27 million to Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, as part of the science and technology development programme, and €20 million to the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions, PRTLI, and €2 million to the European Space Agency.

The additional capital of €27 million will allow SFI to fund the acquisition of critically needed research equipment across each of the seven universities in Ireland as well as in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, the Waterford Institute of Technology, Teagasc and the Tyndall National Institute.

The €20 million being provided to the PRTLI cycle 5 will be used to pay off a further instalment of an outstanding bill for PRTLI cycle 5 awards to the higher education sector for equipment and buildings. It will be distributed across all seven national universities, as well the Cork and Dublin Institutes of Technology.

The €2 million being provided to the European Space Agency is being allocated to two separate programmes - €1 million each to the ESA's advanced research in telecommunications systems, ARTES, satellite communications programme and the general support technology programme, GSTP. This additional investment in these two European Space Agency programmes will result in contracts for Irish companies and create jobs and exports.

The increased funding under these programmes shows the Government’s commitment to meeting the targets set in Innovation 2020, our strategy for research, development, science and technology.

My officials will provide a full breakdown of the details of the allocations of these Supplementary Estimates in tabular form and I can provide some details to the Deputy's supplementary questions.

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