Brian Caulfield

The commitment to simplify the Keep scheme for share options has not yielded results. With Budget 2025 imminent, the government needs to make the schemes we have work rather than develop new ones.

Schemes such as EIIS, KEEP and the R&D tax credit were introduced to support innovation and entrepreneurship in the Irish economy. It’s clear that they are not working. Budget 2024 is an opportunity to fix that.

It’s unlikely that any budgetary intervention can address the short-term funding challenges that face Irish companies. Nonetheless, there are several other areas where government can, and should intervene to improve the environment.

I don’t expect Budget 2022 to deliver a step change for start-ups and scale-ups. But the government could make a real difference if it enhanced incentives for investors and fixed the broken share option scheme.

MIT coined the phrase Innovation-Driven Enterprises to differentiate them from traditional SMEs. And amid the threats of Covid-19, Brexit and global tax reform, we are going to need them more than ever. That will require a change of official thinking and the introduction of new policies.