Paschal Donohoe

The Government have an opportunity to begin implementation of their own Innovation Taskforce if they accept an amendment to the Finance Bill that will be proposed by Senator Paschal Donohoe. This amendment has been supported by leaders of the Smart Economy such as Chris Horn, former CEO of IONA technologies.

It proposes a change in the R&D Tax Credit Regime to provide an incentive for smaller companies to ‘spin off’ from larger parent companies. It aims to create employment and growth by spinning out Research and Development already undertaken by larger companies.

” The creation of a smart economy is seen as essential for our economy to recover and avoid the ‘boom and bust’ cycle that has brought our country to it’s knees. Vital to doing this is to encourage the creation of a larger number of small and medium sized technology based companies. Encouraging entrepreneurs and managers to ‘spin out’ technologies from larger companies will play a big part in making this happen.”

” If the Government accept my momentum it will begin the implementation of their own Innovation Report. The Minister for Finance acknowledged the thinking behind this amendment in the Dail and it has now been endorsed by industry leaders such as Chris Horn. This amendment is happening the same week that the Government included the word ‘innovation’ in one of their Departments. We will see today if this is more than talk”.