Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 224: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on a recent proposal to help entrepreneurs in establishing formal links with incubator and accelerator programmes in Silicon Valley (details supplied). [37587/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The importance of helping entrepreneurs to establish a base in Silicon Valley is fully appreciated and to this end, Enterprise Ireland has nine incubator spaces in its Mountain View office in Silicon Valley seven of which are currently let. The availability of these incubator spaces is of particular relevance to those Irish companies establishing a sales presence on the West Coast of the US.

Enterprise Ireland is interested in all proposals that can add value to Irish companies on the US West Coast. In this context EI continue to evaluate the services of Plug & Play and direct EI clients to their facilities if they can help the client through accelerating their time to market, commercialisation or acquisition of VC Funding.

Through its office in Mountain View, the agency has an ongoing relationship with the Plug & Play organisation and has, for a number of years, recommended that Irish companies looking to incubate or source funding from Silicon Valley sources meet with them, among others.

Plug & Play's offer is highly sophisticated, and it is the largest incubator player in Silicon Valley. Plug & Play is also a significant investor in current and past tenants and I understand that its proposal is aimed at nations or regions that do not have either a Trade Office or an Embassy Trade Attaché function in Silicon Valley. Enterprise Ireland already provide a significant amount of the commercialisation, mentoring, signposting and VC connections that would otherwise be part of the Plug & Play Proposal.

US venture capital participation can be demanding, and may require a company placing its CEO or CIO into the US for an extended period, something Irish companies can rarely afford or want. Plug & Play has a vested interest in identifying, mentoring, fostering and ultimately investing in Irish Software companies that it would take into an International Programme. Therefore, the Plug & Play proposal may not be appropriate for all Irish companies.

I know that Deputy Murphy has already been in contact with Enterprise Ireland's office in Silicon Valley and they would be happy to engage further with him as appropriate on this matter.