Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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73. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on the development of a National Industrial Life Sciences and Health Technology Strategy, similar to the departmental strategy for artificial intelligence. [23112/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The life sciences industry is an important sector of Ireland’s economy, accounting for almost 100,000 jobs and almost 60% of Ireland’s exports. Most of the world’s leading life sciences corporations have operations in Ireland and strong partnerships and dependencies are increasingly evident across all aspects of this cluster. We have a rich and convergent landscape with world-class expertise across key sectors of MedTech, Small and large molecule biopharma manufacturing, services and technology. Moreover, a report from the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, which I launched last month, forecasts 21,000 additional jobs will be created in the biopharma sector by 2027.

Thanks to our strong value proposition, Ireland has developed a cohesive and integrated Life Sciences cluster consisting of highly innovative indigenous companies, large well-established FDI multinationals, a continually developing world-class research base and a strong industry-focused clinical community. My Department and our Agencies will continue to keep the needs of this valuable sector under review and will continue to provide a wide range of incentives and supports for companies operating in the life sciences industry. However, we have no plans, at this time, for a bespoke sectoral strategy for the industry.