Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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337. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the level of take-up of the innovation fund Ireland in each year since its establishment, to date; the number of jobs supported; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34703/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Innovation Fund Ireland is a Government initiative designed to attract leading international venture capital fund managers to Ireland to compliment the domestic venture capital sector. Innovation Fund Ireland funding involved Enterprise Ireland and NPRF investing together and separately. The NPRF has now been reconstituted as the Irish Strategic Investment Fund. The dual mandate of the ISIF – investment return and Irish economic impact – represents a new approach to investing and will require all transactions to generate both risk adjusted commercial returns and economic impact in Ireland.In parallel with this initiative, a series of other non-bank Government backed funding sources for SMEs have been provided. These measures, in tandem with the many other actions contained in the annual Action Plan for Jobs process, have helped an extra 125,000 people back in to work since the first Action Plan has launched in February 2012.

Enterprise Ireland and the NPRF each had up to €125 million to make commitments to international Venture Fund Managers. These funds are committed to establishing a presence in the Irish market and agree to invest, at a minimum, the equivalent of Enterprise Ireland’s contribution, over the lifetime of the fund in Irish companies or companies with significant operations in Ireland. Enterprise Ireland issued two open competitive calls for proposals. To receive an investment through Innovation Fund Ireland venture capital fund managers have to meet, at a minimum, the following criteria to be considered for investment:

- An established global profile and network with a reputation for market leadership in venture capital investment.

- A proven track record of raising funds and generating superior returns for investors.

- A capacity to access high potential international investment opportunities with an investment team capable of attracting world-class entrepreneurs.

- An intention to establish a new and substantial presence in the venture capital market in Ireland and a willingness to invest a meaningful proportion of their venture capital fund in Irish companies or companies with significant Irish operations.

Enterprise Ireland alongside the NPRF/ISIF has made commitments to four Venture Capital funds including Sofinnova, Highland Venture Capital Europe and Lightstone Ventures. A further commitment has been made to a fund that has commenced investing and this will be announced in the near term. Two of these funds remain actively seeking opportunities.

Separately the NPRF/ISIF has made a number of commitments to funds including Polaris and DFJ Esprit. The ISIF comes under the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Finance and the ISIF has published its economic impact report, which is available on the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) website.

Table 1 below detail the levels of fund investments in Irish companies to the end of Q2, 2015.

Table 1-Investment Levels

Table 2- Economic Impact Data 2014 – IFI