Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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944. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the expected timeline for launching further calls under the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund; and whether future calls will prioritise AI, clean tech and SME collaboration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43343/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) is a €500 million challenge-based fund established under Project Ireland 2040 set up to invest in the development and deployment of disruptive technologies. To date, my Department has awarded over €393 million to 107 collaborative projects across seven Calls. I expect that further projects will emerge from the evaluation process under the current Call in the coming months.

The research undertaken by these projects must align with six Research Priority Areas (RPA) - Health & Wellbeing, Manufacturing & Materials, Innovation in Services and Business Processes, Energy, Climate Action, and Sustainability, ICT and Food. These RPAs allow us to drive innovation in multiple sectors across Ireland, further demonstrating this Government’s commitment to fostering collaborative research between enterprises and academia, especially SMEs.

SME participation is a mandatory requirement for all collaborative projects, with each project required to include at least one SME and one other enterprise partner. By placing a particular focus Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) participation, DTIF plays a central role in driving innovative SMEs and ensuring the broad-based impact of the Fund.

Furthermore, under the current RPA framework, AI and Clean Tech projects are eligible to apply under any DTIF call. In fact, approximately 40% of all funded projects to date incorporate AI. All projects are also required to have no negative impacts on the environment.

In line with the commitment in the Programme for Government, officials in my Department are preparing a further Call under the Fund. I expect to announce the next Call, which will take account of feedback from DTIF stakeholders, in Q4 2025.