Irish Medtech Association launches Budget 2020 Submission

Ireland is now internationally recognised as one of the world’s top five global hubs for medical technology. Together, Ireland has built a worldclass community of FDI multinationals and innovative startups, along with key supports such as award-winning designers, expert researchers, and partners which help startups and SMEs go the distance.

Irish Medtech Association Sinead Keogh said: “The success of Ireland’s global medtech hub has seen €566 million in investments and 2,300 jobs publicly announced, and €180 million finance raised by startups over the past eighteen months Startups play a critical role in the medtech sector, as significant drivers of innovation in recent decades.

Irish Medtech Chair and CEO FIRE1 Conor Hanley said: “The innovation pipeline for this dynamic industry is fuelled by startups that take on risk to drive radical innovation in the face of unmet clinical needs that represent significant commercial opportunities. However, to get these products to patients they need sufficient funding to get technologies through key stages including, prototyping and clinical investigations, to obtaining regulatory approval and getting products into the health system” 

Ireland has a rich pipeline of medtech startups and experienced entrepreneurs supported by a collaborative community. But if we want to keep startups here and help them scale we need a business environment that supports entrepreneurs or risk losing them to competitor economies such as the UK.

To support startups the Irish Medtech Association believes Budget 2020 should see the implementation of our Four Point Plan:

• Point 1: An increase in the threshold for the reduced rate of Capital Gains Tax from €1 million to €10 million to encourage risk taking and re-investment.

• Point 2: Reform of the Key Employee Engagement Programme (KEEP), including an increase in the limit on market value of issue, but unexercised, shares under the scheme to €10 million to attract and retain talent.

• Point 3: Reform of the Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (EIIS) including an increase in the limit on investments to €2 million to drive investment.

• Point 4: Government support, backed by industry, and IDA Ireland investment, for an Advanced Manufacturing Centre of scale, located in County Limerick, to act as a shared space to allow companies work together to develop technology and talent.

Keogh added “Our closest neighbour, the UK, is already enticing entrepreneurs with a more beneficial tax treatment than Ireland’s. With the prospect of Brexit looming there is a fear of growing uncertainty and the risk of widening gap as the UK takes further steps to make its economy more competitive and business friendly”. 

“That’s why we’re calling for reform to the Capital Gains Tax system, reform of the Key Employee Engagement Programme (KEEP), changes to the Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (EIIS) and government investment in a new Advanced Manufacturing Centre to drive innovation, attract and retain talent and encourage risk taking and reinvestment” concluded Keogh.