Written answers

Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Research and Development Funding

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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341. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of jobs that were created in 2013 through the establishment of new collaborative research and technology centres promised in the Action Plan for Jobs; the amount of private investment that has been secured; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4189/14]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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In line with the commitment contained in the Action Plan for Jobs, Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has in 2013 provided funding support for the establishment of seven new world-leading large-scale SFI Research Centres. These centres consolidate research activities across higher education institutes to create a critical mass of internationally leading researchers in strategic areas which will lay the foundation for effective and productive academic and industrial partnerships. The seven centres have 150 industry partners in place with a commitment by industry of €100 million over the next six years matched with SFI funding of almost €200 million.

The seven centres will directly support approximately 800 highly skilled personnel (senior researchers (PIs), Post Docs, and PhD Students). Through the commercial application of the research in the centres further jobs will be created in partner companies and spin-outs. For example Irish Photonic Integration Centre (IPIC) focuses on new applications in ICT and medical device areas with the target of stimulating the creation of 200 jobs in these key sectors over the next six years and Insight, the Centre for Data Analytics, will position Ireland at the heart of global Data Analytics research and aims to create 300 direct jobs over the next six years.

As part of the Government’s objective to accelerate economic and societal returns form investment in research the Technology Centre programme, a joint initiative of Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, addresses the advanced research needs of industry in Ireland. More than 300 companies, multinational corporations and indigenous companies, are already benefiting from Ireland’s largest industry-led research programme driving innovation and delivering results in the areas of: cloud and learning technologies; manufacturing and materials; energy, food and health; financial services and business processes. Technology centres aim to introduce companies to the research expertise in Higher Education Institutes with the objective of generating innovative technologies. Each centre has an industry steering group which controls the direction of the research performed in the centre, enabling each centre to reach its full potential.

Fourteen technology centres have been fully established to date including two additional centres, in the economically important areas of Data Analytics and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, which were established in 2013 in line with the Action Plan for Jobs 2013. While initial stage funding for a technology centre in Connected Health was approved during 2013 it is expected that this will be fully established in early 2014. CeADAR (the Centre for Applied Data Analytics Research) has been established to accelerate the development, deployment and adoption of Data Analytics technology and relevant innovations. The Pharmaceutical Manufacturing technology centre was established to support and develop the Irish pharmaceutical industry by improving manufacturing competitiveness and enhancing the research and development mandate and activity of Irish pharmaceutical manufacturing sites and companies. Enterprise Ireland will invest €1 million per annum in each of these centres over the next 5 years. Both of these centres are based around 5 year industry-led research agendas and it is too early for these recently established centres to have leveraged private investment or created employment in companies beyond the 16 research staff currently employed in the centres. It is expected, nevertheless, that these centres will leverage from the companies involved as much as 40% of the State investment as they mature and will also contribute to the employment and turnover growth of participant firms.

Independent analysis commissioned by Enterprise Ireland has found that the seven technology centres that have reached the “half way point” in their funding cycles have helped to create €69 million of turnover to date in member companies and this is expected to rise to €272 million by 2018. These centres have also helped to create159 full time equivalent jobs to date, and this is expected to rise to 371 full time equivalent jobs by 2018.

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