Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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274. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the implications of Brexit for European research and innovation funding; if the Government has conducted an analysis of the implications of Brexit on European research and innovation funding as it relates to Ireland; if so, the findings of the analysis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8801/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Horizon 2020 is the current EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. Funding is secured for the final work programme for Horizon 2020 which will run until the end of 2020. Brexit is therefore not expected to have a significant impact upon funding for Horizon 2020.

In terms of European research and innovation activities, the UK is one of a number of important collaborators for Ireland in Horizon 2020. In addition to the UK, Ireland has a diversified range of collaborative links with Member States, particularly Germany, Spain and France. An analysis of Ireland's collaborations under Horizon 2020 indicates that collaborations occur in multi partner projects and that Ireland is not overly-dependent on the UK for scientific collaboration in successful EU programmes.

My Department’s agencies, Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland, undertook analyses on the potential impact of Brexit following the UK vote in late 2016. In addition to ongoing review by officials from my Department, these analyses have been updated for presentation to inter-department groups on Innovation 2020and Horizon 2020. The recent report published by my Department Building Stronger Business: Responding to Brexit by competing, innovating and tradingidentifies some of the potential opportunities (including research) for Ireland arising from Brexit as well as the actions which are being taken.

The successor to Horizon 2020, Framework Programme 9 (FP9), will be proposed by the European Commission later in 2018. Funding for this new European research and innovation programme will be allocated as part of the Multiannual Financial Framework. As discussions on this financial framework are ongoing, funding for FP9 is yet to be determined.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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275. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if the Government has reviewed Innovation 2020 in view of Brexit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8802/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The vision as set out in Innovation 2020, for Ireland to become a Global Innovation Leader, is even more relevant in the face of Brexit. Creating an internationally competitive research and innovation system which drives a sustainable economy is a key strand of our Brexit response. The cross-Government Innovation 2020 Implementation Group is critical in driving delivery of the strategy’s commitments in order to achieve national innovation objectives.

A key commitment in Innovation 2020 is to enable firms to innovate which has been demonstrated to build resilience in enterprise to manage, exploit and survive global challenges such as Brexit. ‘Building Stronger Business’, launched in November 2017 also sets out my Department’s approach to managing Brexit impacts on the national research and innovation system.

Together with Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), Enterprise Ireland (EI) and IDA Ireland, my Department is driving and supporting greater engagement in research, development and innovation by both Irish and foreign owned enterprises and by both SMEs and large scale enterprises. We are responding to the changing needs of the enterprise sector and are tailoring our supports to meet these needs.

SFI, EI and IDA Ireland are targeting R&D funding to support innovation in new products and processes which firms need to compete and grow and to invest in the pipeline of the next generation of innovators through a new postgraduate researcher programme.

Budget 2018 saw a €4.25 million increase in SFI’s budget for a new Research Centre bringing to 17 the number of large scale Research Centres. SFI is working to identify potential opportunities for Ireland in the context of EU-funded researchers wishing to relocate post-Brexit and is strengthening the research collaborations with the UK and Northern Ireland.

EI is helping clients to access external sources of innovation, enhancing internal innovation capabilities through training and supporting an increase in client research, development and innovation investment.

As innovation is a key cornerstone of enterprise policy, a review of ‘Enterprise 2025’ will be published shortly which will ensure that the enterprise policy framework remains robust in the context of Brexit. The Action Plan for Jobs 2018 will also be published in Q1 this year with a specific focus on Brexit mitigation policies and will outline actions which can commence in 2018 to support firms to overcome the challenges and to take advantage of the opportunities presented by Brexit.

Furthermore, I intend to have a mid-term evaluation of Innovation 2020 undertaken this year to determine the extent to which the specific actions outlined in the strategy remain robust and so that any relevant adjustments may be made in a timely manner to ensure successful delivery on the vision and objectives.