Ireland’s Sectoral Capital Plan 2026–2030 : Innovation, Research and Scale as a Deliberate Economic Architecture

Ireland’s Sectoral Capital Plan 2026–2030, developed within the framework of the revised National Development Plan, should be read less as a traditional investment programme and more as a statement of economic architecture. In a context marked by geopolitical volatility, technological acceleration and intensifying competition for talent, capital and strategic industries, the Irish government has chosen to organise innovation not as a discrete policy field, but as a structural backbone of enterprise and competitiveness.

The scale of the plan reflects this ambition. The total funding envelope reaches €4.7 billion over the period to 2030, including €3.68 billion in direct National Development Plan capital allocations, complemented by agency-generated resources and European funds. Within this envelope, €1.33 billion is explicitly dedicated to enterprise innovation and commercialisation, making innovation one of the largest and most strategically positioned components of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment’s capital strategy.

This investment choice is underpinned by a clear diagnosis: Ireland’s future growth model cannot rely indefinitely on foreign investment attraction or cost competitiveness alone. It must increasingly depend on the country’s ability to convert research, technology and data into indigenous firms capable of scaling, exporting and anchoring high-value employment across all regions.

Innovation as an Economic Infrastructure, Not a Sectoral Policy

A defining feature of the Irish approach is the way innovation is embedded across the full enterprise lifecycle. The Sectoral Capital Plan deliberately avoids separating “innovation funding” from enterprise development, export promotion or regional policy. Instead, innovation is treated as an enabling infrastructure that underpins productivity, competitiveness and resilience.

This integration is operationalised through the delivery model. Enterprise development, innovation supports and productivity programmes are primarily channelled through Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs). Together, these agencies will invest over €2.38 billion in enterprise-related capital programmes during the lifetime of the plan, spanning entrepreneurship, applied research, digitalisation, sustainability and scaling.

The emphasis on outcomes is explicit. Enterprise Ireland’s 2025–2029 strategy, which the Sectoral Capital Plan directly finances, sets concrete targets that anchor innovation investment in economic delivery. By 2029, Enterprise Ireland-supported firms are expected to employ 275,000 people, generate €50 billion in exports, and include the support of 1,000 new startups. These targets build on already substantial results: in 2024, Enterprise Ireland client companies recorded €36.75 billion in exports, invested €1.6 billion in R&D and innovation, and employed 234,454 people, with 66% of jobs located outside Dublin.

Innovation, in this framework, is therefore not measured by inputs alone, but by its contribution to employment, export diversification and regional development.

Applied Research as a Core Instrument of Industrial Policy

Technology Centres: Long-Term, Industry-Led Applied Research

Applied research is treated as a strategic instrument of industrial policy rather than as an extension of academic research funding. The Enterprise Ireland Technology Centres Programme, allocated €190 million under the plan, plays a central role in this architecture.

These centres operate across priority domains such as advanced manufacturing, data and AI, life sciences, sustainability and digital technologies. Their defining characteristic is governance: industry partners are not peripheral beneficiaries but active co-designers of research agendas. SMEs and multinational firms participate in steering structures, ensuring that research roadmaps align with industrial needs, regulatory trajectories and market opportunities.

Funding justification is therefore tied to adoption potential, productivity gains, new product development and the creation of spin-outs. This approach is designed to address a persistent weakness observed across Europe: the difficulty of translating high-quality research into market-ready solutions at speed.

Strategic European Anchoring: ESA and IPCEIs

Ireland’s applied research strategy is strongly reinforced by European integration. The plan commits €170 million to Ireland’s participation in the European Space Agency, reflecting the growing importance of space-based capabilities for climate monitoring, energy systems, agriculture, security and digital services. This investment builds on a strong track record: Irish companies have already secured over €1.4 billion in ESA contracts, demonstrating the leverage effect of sustained national participation.

In parallel, €120 million is allocated to participation in Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs). These projects position Ireland within European strategic value chains in areas such as semiconductors, advanced manufacturing and digital infrastructure, aligning national innovation policy with EU-level objectives on technological sovereignty and industrial resilience.

From Research to Startups: A Deliberate Company-First Model

Technology transfer policy under the Sectoral Capital Plan is explicitly oriented towards company creation rather than IP monetisation. Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund is the primary instrument supporting this transition from publicly funded research to market-facing firms.

The fund provides direct support to third-level institutions and researchers, covering proof-of-concept, prototype development and early commercial validation. In 2024, €23 million was allocated to 89 commercialisation projects, many of which resulted in spin-out companies progressing rapidly into Ireland’s venture capital ecosystem or forming licensing partnerships embedded in growth-oriented firms.

This approach reflects a clear policy assumption: intellectual property generates economic value primarily when embedded in companies capable of attracting capital, scaling operations and competing internationally. The Commercialisation Fund therefore acts as a bridge between research funding and enterprise finance, tightly coupled with Ireland’s seed and venture capital programmes.

Structuring the Startup Ecosystem: Start-Up Ireland

Despite strong startup creation rates, Ireland has long acknowledged fragmentation across incubators, accelerators and support programmes. The Sectoral Capital Plan responds to this challenge through the establishment of Start-Up Ireland, backed by €28 million over the plan period.

Start-Up Ireland functions as a national coordination layer rather than a centralised operator. Its mandate is to align existing ecosystem actors, rationalise pathways for founders and strengthen the international orientation of Irish startups. A key responsibility is the oversight of a new National Accelerator Programme, succeeding the National Digital Research Centre (NDRC) and incorporating lessons from OECD evaluations.

The objective is not to increase the number of programmes, but to improve coherence, visibility and scalability across the ecosystem, particularly for startups with global ambitions.

Scaling as a Strategic Policy Intervention

One of the most notable aspects of the Sectoral Capital Plan is its explicit and quantified recognition of a €1.1 billion scale-up financing gap in the Irish market. This gap is particularly acute for Series A+ rounds in the €5–25 million range, a stage at which many promising firms have historically faced pressure to exit or relocate.

The policy response is the creation of a €100 million Scaling Fund, designed to operate alongside private investors and existing venture capital schemes. The fund aims to increase the availability of later-stage capital, crowd in institutional investors and retain high-growth firms within the Irish and European economic space for longer.

This intervention reflects a broader European concern with the retention of strategic assets and the avoidance of premature non-European acquisitions, positioning scaling finance as an issue of economic sovereignty rather than purely market efficiency.

Regional Innovation and Balanced Economic Development

Innovation policy under the Sectoral Capital Plan is explicitly territorial. Through instruments such as the Smart Regions Innovation Scheme, the Regional Enterprise Development Fund and IDA Ireland’s Regional Property Programme, innovation capacity is anchored across all regions.

These programmes support applied research infrastructure, digital and AI adoption by SMEs, innovation hubs and sectoral clusters linked to technological universities. In 2024, 67% of Enterprise Ireland-supported innovation partners were located outside Dublin, while IDA Ireland approved 183 regional FDI projects, reinforcing the role of innovation investment in balanced regional growth.

Implications for French Stakeholders

For French policymakers, research organisations, universities and innovation actors, the Irish model offers several instructive insights. It demonstrates how applied research can be tightly aligned with industrial demand, how public capital can intervene strategically at the scale-up stage, and how European programmes can amplify national innovation strategies rather than operate in parallel.

The strong alignment with ESA, IPCEIs and Horizon Europe creates clear opportunities for Franco-Irish cooperation, particularly in deep tech, space, semiconductors, AI, hydrogen and digital infrastructure.

Conclusion – A Call to Franco-Irish Cooperation

Ireland’s Sectoral Capital Plan 2026–2030 illustrates how innovation policy can function as an integrated economic system when research, entrepreneurship, finance and regional development are aligned around execution. France and Ireland face similar structural challenges: accelerating technology transfer, closing scale-up financing gaps, strengthening European industrial sovereignty and ensuring territorially inclusive growth.

The 2026–2030 period offers a strategic window to move beyond benchmarking towards shared execution. Joint research-to-startup pipelines, co-investment mechanisms for scale-ups, coordinated participation in EU strategic programmes and region-to-region innovation partnerships all represent realistic avenues for cooperation.

Rather than pursuing parallel strategies, France and Ireland now have the opportunity to interlock their innovation systems and generate shared competitive advantage in an increasingly contested European and global environment.