NACE division 72. 643 active Irish companies, 122 registered in the last 12 months. List and filter them →
643 active Irish companies in scientific r&d, 2% of professional, scientific and technical. 122 were set up in the past year (19.0%).
6th of 7 in professional, scientific and technical40th of 86 of all activities by size7th of 76 by start-up rate
Active companies
643
Professional, scientific and technical: 32,504
Median filing delay
273 days
Ireland: 273 days
Annual returns overdue
13.8%
Ireland: 11.3%
Foreign parent
0
of 12 with an LEI
Sector economy
Official statistics for scientific r&d: business surveys (European Commission) and the CSO. A tag shows when the CSO only publishes the figure for a wider group.
Irish services confidence
+24.8
51st percentile since 2005 · EU +6.0 · Oct 2026
EU confidence, this activity
+5.0
26th percentile since 2010 · +5.5 on a year
People employed
12,500
-22.4% on a year · 2026 Q2
Average weekly earnings
€1,248
-5.9% on a year · Ireland €1,047 Scientific research and development; advertising, other professional, scientific, technical and veterinary activities
Services output volume
+4.5%
3 months to Sep 2026 vs a year earlier Professional, scientific and technical
Job vacancy rate
2.6%
Ireland 1.3% · 2026 Q2 Professional, scientific and technical
Enterprises (CSO)
1,069
12.4% new in 2024 · 8.7 people each on average
Still trading after 5 years
43.4%
of firms born 2019 · all sectors 53.2%
EU, this activityIreland, this activity (to Jan 2023)Ireland, services confidence
Confidence indicators are balances: % of firms reporting improvement minus % reporting deterioration, seasonally adjusted; services confidence combines business situation, past demand and expected demand. Ireland's figures by activity stop in Jan 2023; the Commission still publishes Ireland's sector-wide indicators.
Firms in this activity across the EU expect: employment +3.5, selling prices +16.2 (balances, next 3 months).
Every measure we compute for scientific r&d, ranked against the other activities (1st = highest value). Hover a card for the definition. Compare in the sector explorer.
Companies: CRO open data, by the NACE code each company declares. Sector economy: see sources above.
CRO records an activity code (NACE) for 64.1% of active companies (99.2% of those under 5 years old, 99.5% of those 5 to 10 years old, 12.2% of those over 10 years old), so company counts by sector cover the coded companies, which skew young.
Every company in scientific r&d
List all 643 by county, town, age, hiring and contracts in Find companies. Pro adds full exports and a weekly e-mail of new companies in this activity.