The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment's vision is to make Ireland the best place to succeed in business, delivering sustainable full employment and higher standards of living across all regions of the country.
The Department is responsible for the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Programme, a €500m Fund that is part of the Government’s National Development Plan and which is administered by Enterprise Ireland. We also assist companies in Ireland to engage in space-related innovation and technology development through Ireland’s membership of the European Space Agency and through engagement with EU Space Programmes. We engage with other Government Departments and organisations in the delivery of other important elements of Ireland’s innovation ecosystem including Knowledge Transfer Ireland, the Health Innovation Hub Ireland, the Eureka programme for SME cooperation at international level, European Digital Innovation Hubs and a range of other initiatives.
We work closely with other Government Departments including the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, which leads on national policy for research. In this context, we are supporting the development of Ireland’s Smart Specialisation Strategy for the period 2021 to 2027. This will be closely integrated with the Government’s new national research and innovation strategy which is currently under development.
The Department also develops intellectual property policy, prepares legislation and provides an intellectual property regime which reflects the international law environment and best practice.