Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The PRTLI programme has been allocated €14.4 million. While this figure is small relative to recent years, the historic liabilities in cycle 5 are close to being paid down in full. We are at an early stage in terms of the design of the successor to PRTLI cycle 5. As such, it has yet to be decided whether there will be any specific Brexit-related component to the programme. However, a new programme will increase the capacity of the research system and that is something that is required in any scenario associated with Brexit. The Department has sought funding for Innovation 2020 in the mid-term review of the capital plan. This includes a proposal to commence the successor to cycle 5 of PRTLI, which is the key action in Innovation 2020. If we have agreement in principle to the launch of the new cycle of PRTLI, we can make a start in 2018.

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