Minister Grealish welcomes Ireland’s €1 billion drawdown from Horizon Europe, and notable success in agri-food, forestry and bioeconomy
- Foilsithe: 30 Meán Fómhair 2025
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 30 Meán Fómhair 2025
Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for Research and Development, Noel Grealish TD, has welcomed the announcement that Ireland has surpassed the landmark figure of €1 billion in competitive funding secured through Horizon Europe, the EU’s flagship research and innovation programme. Within this, the Minister noted particular success in securing funding for agriculture, food and the bioeconomy.
Speaking on the achievement, Minister Grealish said:
“Ireland’s success in Horizon Europe is built on strong national research performance which is enabled by funding including from my Department and other public research funders. This has put our researchers in a position to compete and succeed in securing Horizon Europe funding.
One of these successful areas in securing research funding has been Cluster 6 ‘Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment’, for which my Department, as well as colleagues from Enterprise Ireland, are the national contact point. I am glad to say that this has led to a particularly strong success in drawdown for this Cluster, amounting to €136 million which represents the second highest percentage of Ireland’s drawdown across the six Clusters in Horizon Europe. I want to congratulate all those involved for their dedication and vision.”
A further key element of Horizon Europe is the co-funded ‘Partnerships’. Bringing together joint funding from the European Commission and participating member states, these seek to address some of Europe’s most pressing challenges through pooling of resources in collaborative research. Commenting on this, Minister Grealish said:
“My Department is providing financial support towards four partnerships across the areas of Sustainable Food Systems, Animal Health and Welfare, Agroecology and the recently launched Antimicrobial Resistance. Irish researchers are therefore helping to shape national and EU-wide responses to some key challenges – climate change, biodiversity loss, food security, animal health and welfare and antimicrobial resistance. I would encourage our research community to maintain the excellent performance seen so far in the remaining two years of the programme.”
Notes
- Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless announced that Ireland surpassed the €1 billion mark in funding secured from Horizon Europe recently – see here: Ireland reaches €1 billion milestone in Horizon Europe funding
- With a national target of €1.5 billion (1.6%) of Horizon Europe’s €93.5 billion budget from 2021-2027, Ireland is firmly on track to meet and likely exceed the target set in Impact 2030. To date, Irish organisations have been awarded €1.02 billion which equates to 2.09% of the €49 billion awarded so far, showing that Ireland is tracking ahead of its target.
- Irish institutions are supported by the Horizon Europe National Support Network (led by Enterprise Ireland). It is comprised of 32 National Contact Points and National Delegates drawn from 10 Irish research and innovation-active agencies. The National Contact Point for Cluster 6 ‘Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment’ is a Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine representative
An example of a successful cluster six project led by Ireland is STEP UP: Stepping Up for Europe's Sustainable Livestock Systems. The Horizon Europe project has a budget of €4.31 million, it involves 16 partners from 10 countries and is led by Prof. David Kenny, Teagasc Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Grange, Co. Meath. The aim of the project is to upgrade livestock production in Europe by making it more sustainable. More specifically, the project will actively engage in evaluating and analysing Innovative Livestock Production Systems. By incorporating technology-driven techniques, these systems will enable more informed and sustainable livestock farming, enhancing efficiency, reducing environmental impact, and improving animal welfare.