Ireland in new R&D plan
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has announced a new national €5bn research strategy.
The Innovation 2020 plan will run for five years and also covers science and technology. The announcement was made on Tuesday along with Jobs Minister Richard Bruton and Research Minister Damien English.
The plan aims to increase overall investment in R&D in Ireland to 2.5% of GNP, particularly from the private sector. Using current official projections, this would mean that over €5bn will be invested annually by the private and public sectors by 2020, representing almost a doubling of current levels.
Making the announcement on Tuesday, Kenny said: “Innovation 2020 is a key element in our plan to keep the recovery going by helping to create new jobs and new opportunities for research. It sets out a vision in which Ireland would become a Global Innovation Leader, with research, development, science and technology all contributing to this goal. Our reputation for research excellence has been a major catalyst in our success in attracting and maintaining foreign direct investment, and this strategy demonstrates that we remain strongly committed to maintaining and improving standards in the excellence of our research.”
Other targets under the plan include increasing the number of research personnel in enterprise by 60% to 40,000, upping research Masters and PhD enrolments by 30% to 2,250 and securing of funding under Horizon 2020.
Ireland’s participation in international research organisations is also set to be expanded, including applying for full membership of ELIXIR, as well as exploring membership options for CERN and the European Southern Observatory. Furthermore, a new ‘Programme of Funding for Frontier Research’ will be introduced in the hope of providing resilience and responsiveness to meet new challenges or opportunities.
Adding his thoughts, English said: “Developing the talent of our population is an underlying aim of Innovation 2020 and will be critical to the successful realisation of our national vision of Ireland as an innovation leader. Our success in delivering on our vision will depend on our people – undertaking the research, working in and creating successful enterprises, and contributing to the society in which we live.”
Full details of Innovation 2020 can be read here.
