Firms up R&D spend by 30%

At the height of the recession and despite facing tough economic conditions, Irish-based firms increased their spending on research and development & initiatives by more than 30%.

Latest figures released by the CSO show that Irish industrial firms and those in selected service sectors spent over €3.6bn on innovation activities in 2012, a substantial increase on the 2010 figure of €2.5bn.

While the growth in R&D expenditure was significant, especially in the context of the prevailing economic climate, the increase represented a return to more normal levels of innovation investment, according to the CSO’s Kevin Phelan.