Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 June 2026
176. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the upcoming funding available under the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF); the way in which DTIF has previously supported climate action projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45567/26]
View answerThe Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) is a challenge-based Fund established under Project Ireland 2040. It is managed by my Department and administered by Enterprise Ireland.
The Fund seeks to invest in the development and deployment of disruptive technologies and applications on a commercial basis, drive collaboration between Ireland’s world-class research base and industry, facilitate enterprises to compete directly for funding in support of the development and adoption of these technologies and seed a new wave of start-ups.
The Fund is for clients of Enterprise Ireland, Údarás na Gaeltachta, IDA Ireland and research performing organisations in the State that are collaborating on industrial research and / or experimental development in highly innovative projects that address areas such as ICT; health and wellbeing; food; energy, climate action and sustainability; manufacturing and materials; and services and business processes.
Under the seven DTIF Calls to date, over €530 million in funding has been awarded to 131 projects. The funding of €40 million for Call 8 that I announced last week will enable our innovative enterprise sector and our research community to engage on further ground-breaking research projects. Call 8 will encourage applications at the cutting edge of innovation, including in technological fields aligned with my Department's strategic policy focus, such as: semiconductors; life sciences; AI; and tourism.
Over the seven DTIF calls to date, a total of 12 projects were focused specifically on the energy, climate action and sustainability area. These were collectively awarded funding totalling €34 million.
In addition, all DTIF projects are evaluated against four criteria, one of which relates to sustainability. The projects must therefore demonstrate positive contributions to the low carbon / sustainability targets in the Climate Action Plan and neither hinder the achievement of Ireland’s climate objectives nor have other significant negative environmental impacts.
