Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

296. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on whether the departure of the UK from the EU will have a negative impact on successful funding applications by Ireland to the Horizon 2020 programme. [7716/17]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Ireland has won €337 million in competitive EU funding under Horizon 2020 from 2014 to September 2016. Higher Education Institutes accounted for €198 million or, 59% of the total. Companies won €104 million or, 31%, with €74 million of this going to SMEs. This result indicates that Ireland is on track to achieve its national target of securing €1.25 billion over the lifetime of Horizon 2020.

The full implications of the UK vote to leave the EU for the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation have yet to be determined. Exit negotiations will not commence until Article 50 has been triggered by the UK and will probably take the maximum allowed period of two years to complete.  Given that the UK Government has committed to triggering Article 50 during March, the earliest likely departure date for the UK is March 2019. There will be no change in the situation regarding the UK’s entitlement to participate in Horizon 2020 during that period. This point has been confirmed by the EU Commissioner for Research and Innovation, Carlos Moedas.

In August 2016 the UK Government announced that the UK Treasury will underwrite the payment of EU funding to all UK organisations bidding for Horizon 2020 projects while the UK is still a member of the EU, even when specific projects continue beyond the UK’s departure from the EU. This guarantee provides a measure of certainty both to UK applicants and their prospective partners in other member states.

Ireland's international collaborative links in Horizon 2020 are well diversified across the EU: only 13% of Ireland's collaborative links are with the UK. In addition, less than 5% of the funding won to date has come from UK led projects.  Therefore, Ireland does not have a critical reliance on the UK as a partner in Horizon 2020 in order to secure funding.

In the light of these considerations, it is unlikely that the UK's departure from the EU will have a significant impact on Ireland’s success in securing funding from Horizon 2020.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

297. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the discussions the director general of Science Foundation Ireland has had with his counterparts or other relevant officials in the UK on the permutations for Ireland on research collaboration between the two states when the UK exits the EU; and if funding for pre-existing awards will be guaranteed. [7717/17]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Over the last five years, SFI has put significant effort into enhancing Ireland’s scientific collaborations with the UK. SFI co-funds with Wellcome, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and the Royal Society and more recently has agreed collaborative arrangements with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Centre (EPSRC). SFI also fosters collaborations between Ireland, Northern Ireland and the US through the US-Ireland Partnership programme.  This programme invites researchers in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the US to work together on research projects that are then co-funded by SFI and the Health Research Board in Ireland, the Dept. of the Economy in Northern Ireland and the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation in the US. These collaborative arrangements are bilateral/trilateral and are, therefore, not impacted by Brexit. A key objective for SFI is to strengthen its research funding partnerships including with the UK with the goal of supporting further and stronger scientific collaboration.  This will help to ensure that the Irish research community is well-positioned for all post Brexit scenarios. Funding from SFI for pre-existing awards is not impacted by Brexit.