BDO has appointed Mark O'Sullivan as partner to head its Research & Development Incentives practice.

BDO says it's the first time a financial advisory company has appointed a STEM professional to head such a division.

O'Sullivan is a member of Engineers Ireland and holds professional qualifications in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing & Design Engineering, Medical Physics and Computing. He is also a qualified Chartered Tax Advisor and has significant Revenue audit experience.

O'Sullivan specialises in securing R&D funding for companies through government grants and tax incentives, including RD&I grants, R&D tax credits, and the Knowledge Development Box regime.

BDO says that since joining BDO O'Sullivan has been involved in the successful qualification of over €500m of expenditure for R&D tax credits and grant funding and has been involved in many of the largest R&D tax credit claims ever made in Ireland.

In Association with

BDO managing partner Michael Costello said: “Promoting from within and attracting professionals with diverse educational and professional backgrounds is a key element of our business strategy. It ensures that we have the right blend of expertise and are always looking for new ways to add value for our clients.

"At a time when the business environment is facing complex health and trading issues, we continue to expand our service offering to meet the needs of our clients. The team has done tremendous work growing the R&D Incentives practice into one of best in Ireland, and with Mark’s unique expertise at the helm I am confident that we will continue to strengthen our offering in this area.”

O'Sullivan added: "It’s an exciting time for R&D in Ireland as the number of organisations engaging with our national R&D Incentive schemes continues to rise, and the pace of change in science and technology continues to increase.

"The market is presenting increased opportunity for organisations seeking to avail of R&D incentives and I look forward to working with our team of engineers, scientists and tax experts to help maximise those opportunities.”

Photo: Mark O'Sullivan (left) and Michael Costello. (Pic: Naoise Culhane)