Ireland spends below EU average on R&D

7 comments
  1. Probably because the government forces Multinationals to spend on R&D if they want to avail of tax credits.

    Publicly funded R&D just got a boost last month with state funding an extra 400 Phd students, in €100m programme.

  2. It more important developmentally on the cost/benefit ROI of the investment..does it create new innovative processes, products, create new activities, etc.

    You can create IP and patents but if they don’t translate to a useful utilisation, then it’s just expenditure A lot of blue sky R&D in universities for example can take a long time to have a commercial or utilitarian return. Or none at all.

    Also Ireland doesn’t give significant levels of support (percentage wise) for process innovation which is often counted in other countries. High levels of Lean 6 sigma here drive much of that, which isn’t necessarily the norm in many countries we compete with and why we’re quite good at manufacturing relative.

  3. These stats are misleading because Ireland’s GDP per capita is about $100,000, whereas modified GNI per capita (a truer measure) is under $70,000.

    Edit: according to the World Bank, Ireland’s GDP per capita in 2021 was $99,152.

    I couldn’t find current modified GNI per capita, but the GDP to GNI rational ranged between 130-160% in 2010s, so Ireland’s true GDP per capita is more likely between $60 and 70,000.

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