From Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
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Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Patrick O’Donovan TD today welcomed news that Ireland has climbed two places to 7th among EU Member States on the European Innovation Scoreboard.
The annual European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) compares the research and innovation performance of EU Member States and selected third countries, and the relative strengths and weaknesses of their research and innovation systems.
In 2023 Ireland was ranked 9th, while the 2024 edition of the EIS has seen Ireland climb to 7th place, and Denmark was awarded the top spot.
Speaking today, Minister O’Donovan said:
“We have set an ambitious vision under Impact 2030 to ensure that Ireland’s collective investment in research and innovation makes as big a difference as possible to as many people as possible.
“Today’s result proves we are on the right track, but also reminds us that we still have much more to achieve.
“With that in mind, we will continue to work towards improved performance by our national research and innovation system because it is vital to the achievement of multiple national policy objectives, including progress towards our climate action targets and the digital transition that is so critical to the future of our economy, society and public services.”
Areas in which the Irish system performed especially well include employment in knowledge-intensive activities which is critical to Ireland’s economic performance as a knowledge-intensive economy, and resource productivity, an important element of our progress toward our climate action targets.
Ireland performed relatively less well in 2024 in areas such as design applications and the development of environment-related technologies.
Impact 2030, Ireland’s national research and innovation strategy, sets a target for Ireland to be classified as an Innovation Leader under the European Innovation Scoreboard by 2030, i.e. with an overall score in excess of 125% of the EU average.
In 2024, Ireland’s performance is 113.2% of the EU average, against its 2021 baseline of 108%. Work continues under Impact 2030 towards its 2030 targets, including R&I intensity (expenditure as a percentage of economic activity) levels.
In absolute terms, Ireland’s public funding for research and innovation has increased by 28% in the decade since 2012. In 2023, it is estimated to have surpassed the €1bn mark for the first time ever and this upward trend is continuing into 2024.
European Innovation Scoreboard
Published every year by the European Commission, the European Innovation Scoreboard provides a comparative assessment of:
Its purpose is to help Member States identify the areas on which they need to focus in order to boost their innovation performance. Each country is ‘scored’ across a range of indicators and then categorised as Leading (125%), Strong (100%), Moderate (70%) or Emerging Innovators (<70%), depending on how their score relates to the EU average (noted in brackets respectively).
It is comprised of 32 indicators (several of which are composite indicators) across the following four dimensions:
Impact 2030
Impact 2030 is Ireland’s national strategy for research and innovation. Its overarching mission is to ensure that Ireland’s collective investment in research and innovation makes as big a difference as possible to as many people as possible. It is being implemented by way of three three-year work programmes with strong inter-Departmental and inter-agency cooperation.
Under the 2022-2024 work programme, key national initiatives on the part of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science include the establishment of the Civil Service Research Network and the establishment of Taighde Eireann, Research Ireland. At European level, Ireland is actively participating in Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation funding programme. As of the start of 2024, i.e. three years into the operation of Horizon Europe, Ireland has secured nearly €700m of EU funding, i.e. nearly halfway to its €1.5bn 2030 target under Impact 2030.