Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

6. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of funding through technology gateways received by each EU NUTS 2 and 3 regions in the State per year since 2016, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41688/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Enterprise Ireland, an agency of my Department, funds and supports the Technology Gateway Programme. The Technology Gateway Programme seeks to harness the innovation and technological expertise in the Institutes of Technology and Technological Universities for the benefit of Irish based industry on a regional and national basis.

Enterprise Ireland’s Technology Gateway Programme has established a nationwide network of 16 industry-focused Gateways in the Institutes of Technology and Technological Universities. Gateways act as open access points for companies delivering near to market solutions across industry sectors such as ICT & Software, Bio Lifesciences & Food, and Precision Engineering and Materials. The Gateways act as a portal to the wider research infrastructure of personnel and specialised equipment within the network of Gateways.  

MET, PEM and DESIGN+ were added to the network in 2016. The Centre for Renewable Energy at Dundalk Institute of Technology (CREDIT) is the newest Technology Gateway, launched in March 2021.  The initial funding will allow CREDIT Technology Gateway to set up and staff the Gateway with a view to joining the other Gateways in re-applying for funding when a new programme is announced.

Technology Gateway funding is allocated over five-year programme streams and the total amount allocated to each Gateway, to date, is shown in the table below.  Shannon ABC is a shared Gateway and is based in Munster Technological University (Tralee) and Limerick Institute of Technology. For the purpose of this analysis, Shannon ABC expenditure is recorded under the Mid-West region even though some expenditure relates to the South-West.