The Government is to invest €10 million in two new technology centres designed to turn research and development ideas into jobs.
The industry-led centres, which will concentrate on manufacturing research and energy efficiency, were announced by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton.
The centre for manufacturing research will undertake research to help industry improve competitiveness through cost reduction, service levels, customer responsiveness, output and productivity, waste reduction and product quality, among others. It will be based at Intel and will include Intel, Boston Scientific, Seagate, and Pfizer, among others.
The energy efficiency research, meanwhile, will be based at DePuy, with Analog Devices, Aughinish, EMC2, Bombardier and Carbury among the participants. The centre will target research that will help manufacturers reduce energy costs.
"If we are to develop the companies of the future in Ireland, both indigenous and multinational, we must not only fund high tech research in our universities but also crucially ensure that the research ideas we have developed can be put into action in industry. In this way, new businesses can be created and established companies can expand and create more jobs," Mr Bruton said.
"The Programme for Government commits to addressing that gap through establishing technology centres in order to develop good ideas into workable businesses so as to create the jobs of the future and get the economy growing again."
IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland have both welcomed the investment.
Last week, Mr Bruton announced €55 million in initiatives that included funding for research centres in cloud computing and energy, additional funding for basic research and increased Enterprise Ireland support for start-ups.
