Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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96. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the details of the take-up of Enterprise Ireland innovation vouchers since the scheme was introduced; the number of vouchers used; the number of participating SMEs; the amount spent on the scheme; the type of institutions to which the vouchers go; the sectors and areas in which the vouchers were utilised in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52659/21]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The Innovation Vouchers Programme is designed to build links between Ireland's public knowledge providers and small businesses and help to create a cultural shift in the small business community's approach to innovation. This action is about ensuring that the opportunities that the collaborative project habit engenders is available to the broadest number of companies. The €5,000 Vouchers encourage companies and public knowledge providers (higher education institutions and research performing bodies) to work together on specific innovation questions and projects related to the company’s needs. The nature of such projects will be such that they transfer knowledge that is new to the company. The company may use the new knowledge to innovate a product, production process or service.

All small and medium-sized limited companies, in all sectors of the Irish economy are eligible to apply for an innovation voucher. The only exclusions on a sectoral basis are enterprises in the agricultural sector, in line with State Aid rules. Enterprises in the agricultural sector have their own suite of supports.

The table below shows the number of Innovation Vouchers redeemed per year and the number of unique companies in each given year that redeemed a voucher.

There are a total of 36 Knowledge Providers that can be utilised under the Innovation Vouchers Programme and a company can only contact one who has signed up to participate in the Programme. The 36 include 9 participating in the initiative from Northern Ireland. The table below outlines the breakdown of the Innovation Vouchers redeemed annually by knowledge provider sector. The category of ‘other’ includes private institutes, colleges and some other publicly funded research performing organisations that do not fall into the Institute of Technology/Technological University (IOT/TU) or University categories.

Enterprise Ireland is not in a position to provide a breakdown by sector, by year, for all innovation vouchers redeemed, as their available data on sectors only reflects EI client companies, not all sectors of the Irish economy, so therefore does not give a true representation of the whole of the sectors who redeem vouchers.