Who We Are

Innovation and Investment Division

The Innovation and Investment Division carries policy and delivery management responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment to Ireland, enterprise innovation, intellectual property and the co-ordination of the department’s actions in the government's Housing for All strategy, delivered through multiple agencies as set out below.

The division has responsibility for:

  • contributing to the delivery of effective foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in Ireland by working with IDA Ireland and other government departments to ensure the agency’s strategies are implemented as effectively and efficiently as possible
  • fostering and growing enterprise innovation through IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland; innovation programmes through Enterprise Ireland includes programmes for in-company innovation, connecting enterprise to academic research, commercialisation of research from Higher Education Institutes and the creation of High Potential Start-Up companies. These programmes are aimed at driving exports and creating jobs
  • the formulation and development of Ireland's intellectual property policy and legislation, promote Ireland’s interests at EU level and adhere to our international obligations to which Ireland is committed through various international agreements; the delivery of an efficient IP administrative system which comes under the remit of the Intellectual Property Office of Ireland (IPOI)
  • advancing preparations for the constitutional referendum on the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court
  • National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI)
  • coordinating the delivery of the department’s actions in the Housing for All plan while stimulating innovation and tech adoption in the domestic residential construction sector more broadly

Assistant Secretary: John Newham

Units

Enterprise Innovation

  • Enterprise Innovation Programmes
  • Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund
  • European Space Agency and EU Space Programmes
  • Smart Specialisation and Enterprise Innovation Policy
  • Construction Innovation

Intellectual Property

  • Patents
  • Trademarks and industrial designs
  • Copyright
  • Trade secrets, geographical indications and other IP rights

Unified Patent Strategy 

  • Advancing preparations for the constitutional referendum on the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court

National Standards

  • National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) Liaison

Inward Investment 

  • IDA Ireland Liaison
  • EU Tariff Suspension Scheme

Main contact points

UnitContact point

Enterprise Innovation Unit

Tel: + 353 1 631 2151

Intellectual Property Unit




Tel: + 353 1 631 2121

Email: ipu@enterprise.gov.ie

copyright@enterprise.gov.ie

Unified Patent Strategy Unit









Wendy Gray, Principal Officer

Tel: +353 1 631 2010

Email: wendy.gray@enterprise.gov.ie

Laura Byrne, Higher Executive Officer

Tel: +353 1 631 2473

Email: laura.byrne@enterprise.gov.ie

National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) Liaison Unit

Tel: +353 1 631 2418

Email: NSAILiaison@enterprise.gov.ie

Inward Investment Unit

Tel: + 353 1 631 2125

Tariff Suspension Scheme

Tel: + 353 1 631 2472

Email: tariffschemes@enterprise.gov.ie