Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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287. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the research budget he administers and the budgets administered by agencies of hisDepartment; how the spending of these budgets is prioritised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46460/15]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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In 2015, my Department was responsible for a research budget of €392m representing 53.32% of the total Government investment in R&D.The majority of this funding is administered through the various research funding agencies under the aegis of my Department as well as bodies such as the Higher Education Authority which is responsible for the administration of the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI).

Insofar as prioritisation of these budgets is concerned, my Department’s investment in research is targeted in large measure at areas of economic opportunity that are strategically important to this country. This is the underpinning rationale for Research Prioritisation (RP), Ireland’s Smart Specialisation Strategy, adopted by Government in 2012 as the guiding principle for competitive public investment in research in support of the enterprise sector.

The recently published new strategy for research and development, science and technology “Innovation 2020” restates the validity of the rationale for adopting Research Prioritisation and commits to actions to ensure that public investment in research and innovation will continue to be aligned with enterprise opportunities.

In 2015 the principal components of the research budget of my department were as follows:

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)-€157.0m

This budget allocation allows SFI fund oriented basic and applied research in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) which promote and assist the development and competitiveness of industry, enterprise and employment in Ireland.

Enterprise Ireland (R&D programmes)- €119.43m

This budget allocation allows Enterprise Ireland (EI) to provide direct and indirect research development and innovation supports for indigenous companies, and to support the commercialisation of State funded research.

IDA Ireland - Research and Development Programmes- €62.0m

This funding allows IDA Ireland through its Research, Development & Innovation (RD&I) Support programme, to support FDI companies at all stages of RD&I and enable them to move from start-up R&D, through developing capacity and adding competence, to a fully integrated RD&I function.

Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI) -€32.014m

The Programme supports the provision of top-class research infrastructure (buildings, laboratories and cutting edge equipment) as well as human capital development, through Structured PhD/Emergent Technology programmes across Ireland’s HEIs.

Tyndall National Institute (TNI) -€2.90m

The budget allocation to TNI allows it to continue to drive development of economic impact and job creation through the transfer of advanced technologies for exploitation by industry as well as the provision of ICT hardware solutions.

Subscriptions to international research organisations

In addition to the above agency and programme budgetary allocations my Department also funds Ireland’s membership of a number of international research organisations, principally:

- European Space Agency (ESA) €17.280m

- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)€1.112m

- European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC) €0.191m

Note: The 2015 budgetary figures listed above relate to budgetary allocations for that year.

2015 Supplementary Estimate

As part of 2016 Budget negotiations process, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform agreed to provide an additional amount of €29m in capital monies for research and development supports via the Department’s Vote in 2015. This additional €29 million funding allocated as follows:

Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI) €23.5m

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) €5.0m

Tyndall National Institute (TNI)€0.5m

Taking the consequences of this Supplementary Estimates into consideration the 2016 research and innovation budget provision through this Department’s Vote is being maintained.