Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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842. To ask the Minister for Defence if he will provide in tabular form the number of Enterprise Ireland supported companies with which the Defence Forces are currently engaged; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46313/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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In July 2011 the Government approved an approach whereby Enterprise Ireland supports the Defence Organisation by raising awareness of and engaging with, Irish based enterprise and research institutes that are engaged in relevant activities related to Defence Forces’ capability development. The primary objective is to support Defence Forces capability development and also to support innovation, growth and jobs in Irish industry, particularly for companies and institutions working in the security and defence (dual-use) sector. In addition, the Government also agreed that Enterprise Ireland could also support Irish based enterprise and research institutes and the Department of Defence and Defence Forces capability development, where appropriate in relation to European Defence Agency ongoing activities.

The Defence Forces assistance to industry and research institutions is by way of providing evaluation of technology research and innovation, provision of information on military requirements and the Defence Forces considered views on trends in specific capability development requirements.

A total of 22 research, training and innovation projects involving Irish indigenous companies are being supported directly by the Defence Forces under this initiative, details of which are attached in Annex 1.