Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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172. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of funding allocated to innovation vouchers in 2021, 2022, and to date in 2023, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5364/23]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department, though Enterprise Ireland, funds the Innovation Voucher programme. 

The Innovation Voucher 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.