Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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405. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the progress that has been made in boosting competitiveness and productivity and supporting innovation, research and development, arising from the joint statement by the Irish and British Governments in March 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22300/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Since 2012, Ireland’s relative international competitiveness as measured by a range of international indices improved. We have moved from 20th to 16th in the IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook and from 29th to 25th in the WEF Global Competitiveness Report. In addition, the World Bank’s most recent “Doing Business” report shows Ireland is now ranked 13th out of 189 countries, up 3 places since 2012.

A key objective of the Action Plan for Jobs process which this Government commenced in 2012 was to rebuild our competitiveness and provide a solid foundation for future growth. The recovery in jobs and exports to date is in large part due to the considerable improvement in competitiveness that has taken place in recent years. Prices and labour costs have grown less in Ireland than in our trading partners. Combined with the recent depreciation of the euro, this has seen Irish competitiveness - as measured by the real effective exchange rate - recover most of the deterioration recorded during the boom years.

As noted in the Government’s Spring Economic Statement, this recovery in competitiveness has facilitated a reallocation of resources towards the tradable sectors of the economy. In the longer term productivity performance must be the vehicle through which we must improve our competitiveness and grow the economy. Relentlessly pursuing cost competitiveness which remains vital to us as a small, export oriented economy is important but we must also sustain our focus on productivity growth across all sectors of the economy. Structural reform, as championed through the Action Plan for Jobs, is essential to deliver the necessary productivity gains and improvements in competitiveness. Such reforms are recognised as essential to improving the competitiveness of our exporting sectors, which will be at the heart of delivering on our ambition of having full employment by 2018.

There are a number of initiatives underway in the research, development and innovation space that entail significant cooperation with the UK.

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) researchers are engaged with 145 companies in the UK. These include British Sky Broadcasting, BT, Smith and Nephew, AstraZeneca, Cambridge Chemicals, Eli Lilly and many more. This represents about 12% of overall SFI funded researcher collaborations with industry partners. Eight of the top 10 international partner institutes for collaborations with SFI researchers in 2014 are UK based. These collaborations amount to just under 9% of all international academic collaborations. SFI and the Biotechnology and Biological Research Council (BBSRC) plan to launch a formal partnership in late Q3 2015. The BBSRC, one of seven Research Councils in the UK, is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience with key priorities in the areas of agriculture and food security, industrial biotechnology and bioenergy and bioscience for health.

Enterprise Ireland recognises the strategic importance of the development of an all-island economy on the basis that, in taking on the global market challenge, we can be more than the sum of our parts and extensive links have been forged with various agencies and bodies in Northern Ireland and with the UK. Work in this context is focused on liaison with, and participation in, cross border bodies, close cooperation between Invest NI (INI) and Enterprise Ireland and close cooperation with UK agencies. The inter-agency 2015 work programme between Enterprise Ireland, the UK Trade and Investment Agency and Invest NI includes a project to explore options for collaboration related to our national contact point Horizon 2020 activities, which has the potential to be beneficial to all. Elsewhere, the all island Innovation Voucher initiative continues and this assists small firms to access innovative solutions available in the higher education sector north and south of the border, with the vouchers of €5,000/£4,000 giving these companies the financial support to get them on the first rung of the innovation ladder.

Horizon 2020 represents a significant opportunity for North South cooperation. Increasing successful applications and funding awards from Horizon 2020 is an important objective not just of the Irish Government but also of the Northern Ireland Executive. The international collaborative nature of Horizon 2020 makes it ideally suited for Ireland and Northern Ireland to work together for mutual benefit. The importance of North South collaboration is recognised by both Administrations and the alignment of our Horizon 2020 support structures, North and South, means that there is now a strong basis on which to grow this cooperation.

The work of InterTradeIreland, the North South Trade and Business Development Body, has stimulated a move towards a more focused, coherent approach to co-operation that will be mutually beneficial. This work is paying dividends and the number of North/South collaborations has been rising steadily. To ensure that we build on this success and maximise the level of co-operation for the Horizon 2020 programme, a Strategic Action Plan for North South Cooperation in Horizon 2020 was launched in December 2014. This Strategic Action Plan sets out the rationale for a North/South target of €175million and actions for co-operation which will support the achievement of both Administrations’ internal priorities in respect of participation in Horizon 2020.