• H2020
• Policy & Research

An Irish minister has congratulated researchers on their role in Horizon 2020 during 2014.

Damien English, Minister of State for Skills, Research and Innovation, made the comments as it was announced that exports by Irish companies have hit all-time high of €18.6bn, following a 10% increase. Dublin is also publishing its 13th Action Plan for Jobs (APJ) progress report, part of the monitoring process put in place when the country’s Action Plan for Jobs was first launched in 2012.

Commenting, English said: “Skills and Innovation are critical to Ireland’s success in overseas markets and today’s export figures from Enterprise Ireland demonstrate the high return from our investment in these key areas, keeping Ireland strong on international markets.

“I would like to congratulate researchers and industry in Ireland who have won over €97m in competitive funding in the first nine months of 2014 from Horizon 2020, the nearly €80bn EU framework programme for research and innovation. I am confident that based on the pipeline of activity we will surpass our APJ 2014 target of €100m for the first year of the programme.

“However, I would encourage more industry, including innovative SMEs, to apply as there are many close-to-market opportunities to exploit and Enterprise Ireland’s Horizon 2020 industry experts are available to advise and support industry on the programme, its opportunities and how to apply.”

Growth was recorded in exports to all international markets and across all sectors, according to the official figures.