Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber to discuss Horizon 2020 which gives us all an opportunity to look at innovation policies across Europe that affect all European citizens, including those here in Ireland.

It is important in the context of economic development and in the context of trying to rejuvenate European economies, including the Irish economy and in combatting the advance of new technologies in other jurisdictions such as in the US, China and India and other places. It is major step in the right direction in technological innovation across Europe.
The increased funding to €80 billion is very welcome. We have come through an economic tsunami over the past five or six years. Some €620 million in funding has been given to Ireland in the last FP7, compared to the expected €1.25 billion now. However, this must be qualified by the difficulties well documented by the Irish universities sector, the difficulties in funding for third and fourth level education and also the difficulties being experienced by the SMEs. The buy-in by the public and private sectors will, to a large extent, be contingent on the availability of funds from other sources. There is a need for a debate on how universities are to be funded in the future. On the private sector side, many SMEs are experiencing difficulties as a result of the banks not lending money. This is a major issue because there is a need for co-funding from applicants.
While I welcome Horizon 2020 as a marvellous step in the right direction, it is important to qualify it - this is not a political point - in the context of our situation. Ireland was successful under the last round. I refer to some of the beneficiaries such as Trinity College, Dublin, which drew down €84 million. Our universities are doing well under Horizon 2020 objectives. I read the Irish Universities Association document entitled, Horizon 2020 - Sustaining Excellence in University Research and Innovation, published in December 2013, which dealt with some of the issues the Minister has endeavoured to address today, in particular, the need for collaboration with the university sector, the centres of excellence, North-South co-operation, working with InterTrade Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland. The all-Ireland dimension is important in that we are working closely with our counterparts in the North and the universities work closely with their counterparts in the North. I live in Donegal and the north west does not have a university, the closest institution being the University of Ulster at Magee campus. I cannot understate the importance of Irish universities based here in Dublin, Cork or elsewhere, working with the likes of the University of Ulster and Queen's University, Belfast, in order to develop innovative cross-Border projects that could benefit counties like Donegal. There is a need for this co-operation in order to benefit all the Border counties and this should be considered.
The European economy and the world economy are at a crossroads. I refer to the growth in population and the need for innovation and new technologies. The Irish EU Commissioner, Phil Hogan, today doubled the research and development funding under Horizon 2020 for the agriculture and food sector. I referred to some of the challenges. I refer to a recent article in The Guardianwhich reported on the raid on European research funding by what it termed the Robin Hood scheme whereby the vast majority of the funding - 75% of European research council funding - was going to the larger researchers hosted in the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland. This poses a challenge for smaller member states such as Ireland and we will need to box clever with regard to simplifying the application process and providing agency and government support for all applications.

Simplification of the application process is also important. While universities will certainly have the expertise to assist the SME sector, we must also provide assistance to that sector to be able to help itself. I will certainly take the Minister's advice to encourage SME companies to apply for the funding, but often it is the larger foreign direct investment, FDI, concerns or the larger research-based companies that are the focus of attention, be it of the State or of Europe, and perhaps the smaller company with the good idea does not get the chance to come through for many reasons, including funding from the banking sector. There is a need to examine that as well.

Overall, however, I welcome the funding. It will be challenging to draw it down. I hope the €1.25 billion will not be our upper ambition in terms of draw down and that we will go further than that if possible by trying to prepare and assist applications from within the State to be successful at European level.