Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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144. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 155 and 157 of 7 March 2023, the percentage of research and development funded by his Department that takes place outside the State for the latest year for which detailed data is available; the monetary value of that funding carried out outside of the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13079/23]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Parliamentary Questions previously answered (Nos. 155 and 157 of 7 March 2023) were more appropriate to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) as his Department is responsible for publishing the R&D Budget Survey,

However, as the R&D Budget Survey does not collect data on research and development (R&D) funded outside the State, my response will answer your question in relation to the funding of certain R&D programmes by my Department and its offices and agencies.

IDA Ireland, under Section 29 of the Industrial Development Act 1986 (as amended), is provided with the power to give grants towards the cost of R&D on condition that it is “carried out wholly or mainly in the State and wholly or mainly sponsored by one or more than one industrial undertaking in the State”. However, this does not preclude small elements of a grant-aided project being conducted overseas. At all times grants are paid only to the grantee undertaking the research in Ireland. The monetary value of such research being conducted overseas is not routinely collated.

Enterprise Ireland Research, Development and Innovation Programme is focused on delivering supports to indigenous enterprise, including through direct R&D grants and supports from collaborative projects with Research Performing Organisations, within the State. However, the Innovation Voucher initiative provides vouchers worth €5,000 to small businesses to introduce them to innovation by linking businesses with a network of knowledge providers either north or south of the border as needs be. In 2022 the level of expenditure of innovation vouchers in Northern Ireland was €39,998.

InterTrade Ireland (ITI) is joint funded by my Department and the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy on a 2:1 ratio basis. ITI helps SMEs across the island by offering practical cross-border business funding, information, advice and support. While this support is carried out in the Island of Ireland, it is not possible to completely delineate between Southern and Northern funding so the figures provided are general spend. The last audited figures available for ITI relate to 2021 and it is estimated that the percentage of R&D funded by ITI that takes place outside the State is 9% and the monetary value of the funding is €283,083.

INTERREG Europe bring people together to share innovative and sustainable solutions to regional development challenges. The INTERREG VA Programme is one of 60 cross-border programmes operating across the EU, which are designed to overcome issues that arise due to the existence of a border. The programme area includes the six border counties of Ireland, Northern Ireland and part of Western Scotland.

My Department, together with our counterparts in Northern Ireland, the Department for the Economy (DfE NI), is responsible for funding projects under the Research and Innovation strand of the current INTERREG VA programme. Total funding available for the R&I strand (funded by EU and participating Member States) is just over €70m over the period up to 2022. The funding ratio is split on a 30% (DETE): 70% (DfE NI) basis. My Department’s commitment is €21m over the seven-year programme. In 2022, my Department provided €2.64 million towards its overall commitment under INTERREG VA. Under the terms of the programme, 85% of this amount will be reimbursed by the European Union. While this funding helps to support cross-border initiatives to strengthen research and innovation, as this is a collaborative programme managed centrally in Ireland by the Special EU Programmes Body, data on the level of funding utilised outside of the State is not collated by my Department.