Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 43: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the recommendations from the innovation task force that have been implemented; the number that are outstanding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10754/12]

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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The Taskforce's recommendations outlined a whole of Government approach to realising an important strand of Ireland's economic recovery and made a wide range of recommendations in areas such as intellectual property, venture capital, the higher education system, procurement, convergence, sectoral issues, taxation, enterprise agency supports and structures, broadband infrastructure, marketing and implementation. There were 26 Key Recommendations and 63 Supporting Recommendations in the Innovation Taskforce Report. Of the 26 Key recommendations, 12 have been implemented, 9 are to be implemented, in full or in part, and finally 5 will not be implemented. In the main, the unimplemented items are recommendations regarding tax allowances or are concepts requiring significant further analysis to become implementable proposals – many of them give rise to substantial additional investment costs or to revenue foregone.

Significant recommendations implemented include putting into place the €500 million Innovation Fund-Ireland to target the development of a vibrant venture capital community in Ireland through attracting top international venture capitalists. Cycle 5 of the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI) was launched. Moreover, funding for a number of ITF recommendations in the budgetary process to 2016 were secured, enabling my Department and its agencies to support innovative companies, grow the number of high potential start-up companies, provide more venture capital and develop a portfolio of sector specific Angel Funds and increase Enterprise Ireland supports for commercialisation. They also enable the retention of a strategic mass of world class researchers who act as a pull factor for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ireland.

Furthermore, increased funding was secured for the R&D activities of Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland in the context of Budget 2011 and Budget 2012 to enable Ireland to retain the science base built over the past decade, attract further R&D FDI, strengthen collaborations between researchers and enterprise, provide additional company R&D grants, and ensure the best use is made of research with commercial and market potential.

The ITF recommendation to introduce incentives to encourage greater take up of higher level maths has been implemented by the introduction of a scheme of bonus points for students who sit higher level maths. The scheme is to be introduced for a four year pilot period commencing Leaving Certificate 2012 and will be reviewed in 2014. This initiative complements the recommendation to roll out Project Maths - an initiative designed to place greater emphasis on the understanding of mathematical concepts and the application of mathematical knowledge and skill - which is also being implemented.

The Action Plan for Jobs contains a myriad of initiaitves to support broad based innovation.

The majority of public reserach funding will be aligned with priority areas where we are most likely to get economic returns and monitoring systems will be put in place to measure the impact of funding. This initiative was approved by Cabinet and published.

Science Foundation Ireland operates a range of programmes designed to deliver world class research in third level institutions linked to Irish enterprises. Industry and academia collaborations have now reached 800 linkages across 500 companies. The remit of Science Foundation Ireland will be extended to include applied research, in addition to its existing remit covering oriented basic research, thereby enhancing the focus on commercialisation. SFI's funding will include support for Research Centres to enable them to build scale and world class in a sustainable way that fully underpins the development of industry in Ireland and the commercialisation of Irish research.

IDA will continue their strategy of attracting high quality FDI projects to Ireland and more firmly embed exisitng FDI companies with a strong emphasis on RDI – in 2011 IDA approvals for RDI stood at €700million representing an increase of 40% from 2010. The Department of Finance is also implementing, via the Finance Bill 2012, the R&D tax credit improvements announded in the budget which will help all companies and support research and innovation generally. This year, my Department will provide €140m to Enterprise Ireland (EI) to ensure the continued growth in the capacity in indigenous Irish companies to develop innovative and cutting-edge products, processes and services.

Enterprise Ireland will expand their in-company innovation capability and host a Big Ideas Showcase in 2012 to focus on securing investment and identifying business partners that will bring new technologies to the next stage of commercialisation. New Technology Centres in Cloud Computing, Learning Technologies and Financial Services will be established and preparatory work will begin on others relevant to the prioritisation exercise mentioned already. EI will also develop and pilot, in the South East, an innovation Graduates Programme managed in conjunction with the Institutes of Technology and open a call under the Innovation Voucher Scheme specifically focussed on design and branding activities for SMEs, with Third Level Institutes as providers. A second call will be launced under Innovation Fund Ireland to attract significant venture capital players to Ireland.

In the area of Intellectual Property(IP) a new Protocol is being developed to manage IP arising from state funded research. Separately a fesaibility study is underway to examine what structures and policies could be developed to make Ireland a world centre for managing and trading in IP.

Public Procrement is also being used as a lever for innovation. My Department is working with Enterprise Ireland and others to develop a Procuring Innovation Initiative to increase purchasing of innovative solutions from SMEs by encouraging a more flexible approach to tendering that focuses on procuring solutions to needs rather than specific products or services.

My Department is working with the Department of Health and relevant State Agencies to develop a Health Innovation Hub to drive collaboration between the health system and enterprise leading to the development and commercialisation of new healthcare technologies. There are also a number of initiatives being taken to support innovation in sectors including the Green Economy, Agri-Food, ICT, Cloud Computing, Retail and Wholesale.

Innovation is cross-cutting and requires a broad based approach. The breadth of initiatives in the Action Plan for Jobs to support innovation is a testament to the Government's committment to delivering innovation policy to support our economic recovery.