Bring industry evidence into the heart of government policy.
IRDG works with our member companies doing R&D and innovation in Ireland. We bring their evidence, their thinking and their needs into consultations, working groups and direct engagement with the Department of Finance, the Revenue Commissioners, other government departments and the enterprise agencies, to deliver value for business.
Current policy work
Some of our current policy initiatives.
See the issues members have raised, the changes IRDG has proposed and the response so far. Read the supporting submissions below.
The R&D Tax Credit rate and SME access
What members reported. The credit was working for companies already claiming it, but the rate had fallen behind competing jurisdictions, and smaller companies were deterred by cash-flow timing, documentation and the cost of making a first claim. Members fed this back through surveys, roundtables and one-to-one conversations.
What IRDG asked for. An increase in the effective rate to 35%, faster phased refunds and a higher initial payment threshold, advance assurance for first-time claimants, higher outsourcing caps and a dedicated R&D technical unit within Revenue.
Route. Response to the Department of Finance public consultation on the R&D Tax Credit and on Options to Support Innovation, 16 May 2025, followed by the IRDG Pre-Budget Submission for Budget 2026 to the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure.
What happened. Finance Act 2025 increased the rate from 30% to 35%, raised the first-year payment threshold from €75,000 to €87,500, and introduced an administrative measure allowing 100% of an R&D employee's emoluments as qualifying costs where at least 95% of their duties are spent on qualifying R&D. The Department received twenty-six submissions to the consultation, all published on its own website, alongside pre-budget submissions from a range of bodies. IRDG was one voice among those; the ask, its date and the outcome are on the record, and no more than that is claimed.
Still open. The dedicated Revenue unit, advance assurance for first-time claimants and the outsourcing caps. All three are carried into the Budget 2027 submission.
A tax support for innovation that is not R&D
What members reported. A large amount of real innovation — AI adoption, design, digitalisation, process and business-model change — falls outside the statutory definition of R&D and therefore outside the R&D Tax Credit, even where it is the activity most likely to change a company's productivity.
What IRDG asked for. A distinct Innovation Tax Credit, piloted, sitting alongside rather than inside the R&D Tax Credit, with a separate cap to contain State-aid exposure. Broadened eligibility to cover digital, sustainability and incremental innovation.
Route. The 2025 consultation response and the Budget 2026 submission; restated in the Budget 2027 submission as a 20% refundable credit commencing 1 January 2027.
What happened. The Department of Finance published the R&D Tax Credit and Innovation Compass on 16 February 2026, updated 28 April 2026, which sets out a medium-term pathway and includes the design of a new tax-based support for innovation among the work-streams it identifies. That is a live consideration, not a commitment.
Still open. Everything material — whether the credit is introduced, at what rate, and what qualifies.
Public investment in R&D
What members reported. Ireland's public R&D investment sits below the benchmarks of the countries it competes with for mobile R&D, which limits the collaborative research infrastructure companies can draw on.
What IRDG asked for. A multi-annual increase in Government Budget Allocations for R&D to match international benchmarks. The Budget 2027 submission puts a figure and a timetable on it: begin a three-year trajectory towards 1% of GNI*, informed by EU R&D-intensity benchmarks.
Route. Budget 2026 and Budget 2027 pre-budget submissions.
What happened. No published change to report. The proposed target — a three-year trajectory towards 1% of GNI* — stands in the Budget 2027 submission.
Next step. Continue making the case for a funded, multi-year increase in public R&D investment.
The documents
Some of IRDG's recent submissions.
A number of the submissions referenced above. Every submission as filed is on the Policy submissions page, and the official reference documents are under Resources and Insights.
IRDG Pre-Budget Submission for Budget 2027
Strengthening indigenous innovation capacity and sustaining Ireland's FDI competitiveness. Three overarching measures: a Finance Act 2026 SME package on the R&D Tax Credit; an innovation and substantive-R&D competitiveness package including a 20% refundable Innovation Tax Credit from 1 January 2027; and a three-year trajectory for Government R&D investment towards 1% of GNI*.
8 June 2026PDF, 3.8 MBIreland's Innovation Index 2026
The evidence base the Budget 2027 submission draws on. 587 survey responses. Findings, methodology and the full data tables.
IRDG with KPMGPDF, 14.1 MBIRDG Pre-Budget Submission for Budget 2026
Innovation policy and R&D support, submitted to the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure. Recommendations by chapter covering strategic context, the credit for SMEs, large-enterprise R&D, sustainability and the green transition. This is the submission that asked for the 35% rate.
2025PDF, 2.0 MBIRDG response to the R&D Tax Credit and Innovation consultation
IRDG's response to the Department of Finance public consultation on the R&D Tax Credit and on Options to Support Innovation. Drawn from member feedback gathered through surveys, email, roundtables and one-to-one conversations. All company feedback in the submission is anonymised.
16 May 2025PDF, 7.2 MBHow influence works
From member experience to a clear, evidenced position.
Listen
Members tell us where rules, supports or implementation create recurring friction.
Test the pattern
We compare experiences, use survey evidence where useful and distinguish an individual case from a wider issue.
Represent
We submit evidence and contribute through working groups and direct engagement with public bodies.
Report back
We publish what IRDG asked for, the route used, the response and what remains unresolved.
From contributing to the creation of the R&D Tax Credit to its continual improvement and work in practice.
IRDG contributed to the establishment of the R&D Tax Credit scheme and is a member of Revenue's R&D Tax Credit working group. We continue to bring members' evidence into consultations and implementation discussions. Revenue recorded a value to industry of €1.263 billion for the R&D tax credit in 2024 returns (Revenue, Corporation Tax — 2025 Payments and 2024 Returns).
Member input
Raise an issue you are seeing in practice.
Tell us what is happening, who it affects and why it matters. We will assess whether it is an individual support question, a wider member issue or evidence for policy work.