Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 78: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which Irish industry has availed of science, innovation and technology assistance supported by the EU commission in the past two years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27682/12]

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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The Seventh EU Framework Programme for Research and Development (FP7), with a budget of €55 billion for the period 2007 to 2013, is the EU's main instrument for funding research and development in Europe. FP7 offers Ireland's SMEs, multinationals, and research institutions valuable opportunities to participate in high-calibre research collaborations with our European counterparts. The Framework Programme enables companies to work with academic research groups and other industry players across Europe and derive the benefits associated with collaborative research. This enables them to gain benefits such as access to knowledge networks, access to specialist equipment, sharing of costs and risks and, in particular for industry, the possibility of opening up commercial opportunities.

The total funding secured by companies based in Ireland since the commencement of the Seventh Framework Programme in 2007 to November 2011, the latest figures available, is €87.8 million. The figure for 2011 was €25 million and the corresponding target for 2012 is €30 million. Of the €87.8 million secured by companies based in Ireland, €66.4 million went to SMEs and €21.4 million went to multinationals based in Ireland.

The European Commission, in its Fourth Monitoring Report on FP7, covering the years 2007 to 2010 and published in August 2011, states that, in one of the main funding programmes within FP7, Ireland has the highest participation rate of SMEs of the EU 27. This is the rate of SME participation in FP7 compared to the population of SME's in the country. EU support for innovation is also provided through the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) which runs from 2007 to 2013, and which has a budget of €3.6 billion. Unlike FP7, funding under the CIP does not go directly to companies; almost 50% of the funding is via European Investment Fund (EIF) Guarantees which are provided to financial intermediaries, and the remainder is used to fund actions such as best practice exchanges and provision of information networks through the Enterprise Europe Network.