Ireland ninth in EU for innovation but improvement rate slower than average

IRELAND has the two main ingredients to drive innovation and create the jobs of the future, according to an EU-wide survey, but is being let down by poor follow-through by businesses, especially SMEs.

Overall the country was placed ninth of the 27 member states in terms of innovation performances, which is better than the EU average for the past five years.

But worryingly its rate of improvement was slower than the average, putting the country into the category of “innovation followers”.