Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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520. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number and aggregate value of innovation vouchers expended to date in 2013; and if there are any plans to extend and augment this initiative. [38095/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Innovation Voucher initiative was developed in 2007 to build links between Ireland's public knowledge providers (i.e. higher education institutes, public research bodies) and small businesses. Innovation Vouchers worth €5,000 are available to assist a company or companies to explore a business opportunity or problem with a registered knowledge provider. To date in 2013 a total of 619 vouchers with a potential maximum value of €3,095,000 have been approved.

The Innovation Vouchers initiative, administered by Enterprise Ireland, has been designed to stimulate increased innovation within the small business sector while bridging the gap that exists between the small business sector and public research bodies. As a measure of the scheme’s success in fostering collaboration many of the companies who worked with a knowledge provider have since applied for more substantial funding from programmes like Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation Partnership programme - designed to support collaborative research in companies that do not have their own R&D department but want to develop a new product or technology using research expertise.

The Innovation Voucher Programme has been running successfully since 2007 and my Department and Enterprise Ireland plan to continue the programme as long as the demand justifies it and it continues to meet a need in the small business sector.