Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the mechanisms that have been developed to promote and deliver early stage investment by the Irish diaspora in new indigenous and inward startups as promised in the Action Plan for Jobs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51857/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The development and support of new High Potential Start-Ups in Ireland is a top priority of mine as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. An objective of the Action Plan for Jobs 2012 is to continue the development of mechanisms to promote and deliver early stage investment in new indigenous start-ups from international sources, including the Irish diaspora. The following initiatives are being progressed by Government to enable the achievement of this objective in relation to the Irish diaspora:

A €10 million International Start-Up Fund administered by Enterprise Ireland, aimed at encouraging overseas entrepreneurs to locate start-up businesses in Ireland, was launched in October 2011. The Fund is open to company promoters anywhere in the world, but is being targeted particularly at the Irish diaspora, international expatriates, the “New Diaspora” (people from overseas who have previously worked or studied in Ireland), as well as serial and mobile entrepreneurs. To date, 12 projects have been approved and are underway, while a strong pipeline of prospects for conversion in 2013 has also been established.

The second call for expressions of interest under the Innovation Fund Ireland was launched on 15^th March 2012 with a closing date of 14^th June 2012. As part of the announcement, the Government through Enterprise Ireland will invest a total of more than €60million in Venture Capital Funds which establish a presence in Ireland. I expect to be in a position to announce further investments under this Fund in the near-term.

On 8th March 2012, the Government launched the “Succeed in Ireland” initiative, administered by IDA Ireland, which aims to create 5,000 jobs within five years by targeting international companies and business people, who would otherwise not be reached by the State enterprise agencies, for employment opportunities to Ireland. This initiative can be accessed via the Connect Ireland website

The “Succeed in Ireland” initiative provides direct financial incentives to people around the world to create employment in Ireland by making payments to people responsible for bringing sustainable jobs to Ireland. Small and medium sized companies around the world considering expansion, but who would not be large enough to be reached by the State enterprise agencies, will be targeted in particular by the new initiative. The Irish community around the world will be a major focus of the programme. One project has already been announced – Intergeo Services is to establish its European, Middle East and African (EMEA) Headquarters in Carlow, with the potential for 30 skilled jobs.

Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland’s Senior Management team are focusing on the roll-out of a number of joint pilot initiatives, including marketing and events aimed at attracting entrepreneurs and start-ups to Ireland. The first joint event was held from 8^th-12^th September 2012. Joint preparations are underway for the ‘Le Web’ event which is taking place in Paris in December 2012. The joint senior management team will continue to work on identifying further areas of engagement during 2013 as well as refining current approaches.

Other initiatives to address investment in Ireland include: the development and launch of the Immigrant Investor Programme in April 2012; the holding of an International Investor Forum in London on 21 November hosted by Enterprise Ireland; and the sharing of information through the Global Irish Network, which is operated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland. This Network provides information on relevant events focussed on investment in indigenous start-up companies and the Business Angels Network. Discussions are underway on ways to enhance and facilitate awareness and engagement by members of the Global Irish Network.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the targets set and actions taken to increase investment by business as a percentage of GDP. [51897/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Government’s priority is to get Ireland back to work. The Action Plan for Jobs is designed to help achieve that ambition and, as part of the Action Plan, the Government has set out a series of ambitions which represent key investment and employment goals:

- To become the best small country in which to do business.

- To build world-class clusters in key sectors of opportunity. - To build an indigenous engine of growth that drives up the export market share of Irish companies.

- To support the creation of 100,000 net new jobs by 2016 with the longer term objective of having 2 million people at work by 2020.

In seeking to deliver on these objectives, the Action Plan for Jobs sets out a major programme of work representing more than 270 individual actions for delivery during 2012. The targets that have been set for the enterprise development agencies relate to the number of jobs to be created and the number of business investments to be won rather than in percentages of GDP. For example, IDA Ireland’s specific targets for job creation and investment for the period 2010 to 2014 are set out in the Agency’s Strategy document “Horizon 2020” as follows:

- 105,000 new jobs (62,000 in IDA supported companies and a further 43,000 indirect).

- 640 Investments.

- 50% of investments located outside Dublin and Cork.

- 20% of greenfield investments originating from emerging markets by 2014.

- Annual client spend of €1.7bn in R, D&I by 2014.

In the case of Enterprise Ireland, while the Agency is working on a number of areas to increase business investment and extend its direct financial support to grow companies, the targets set relate to numbers rather than a percentage of GDP. By way of illustration, some of their targets for 2012 include:

- To support 200 significant investment projects by client companies (i.e. projects entailing a total investment of €500,000 or more) has been set in the Action Plan for Jobs and is expected to be achieved.

- To support 95 High Potential Start-Ups (HPSUs) during 2012, which will be the highest number of HPSUs ever supported.

- In relation to R&D, the goal is to have at least 740 companies spending at least €100,000 on R&D per annum.

Additionally, Enterprise Ireland has focused on the development of a Seed and Venture Capital industry in Ireland, with recent activity including the introduction of a new Seed fund, the launch of the Development Capital Scheme and the second call for Innovation Fund Ireland.

With regard to investment in research and development (R&D), Ireland’s goal under the Europe 2020 Strategy is to improve the conditions for R&D with the aim of raising combined public and private investment levels to 2.5% of GNP (c. 2.0% of GDP) by 2020 and we are currently on track to reach that target. The latest available data show that the research intensity rate for 2011 is now estimated at 2.17% of GNP (1.77% of GDP) with Business Expenditure on R&D amounting to 1.52% of GNP, which is equivalent to 1.2% of GDP.