Thin films (2-4 mu m) of NiTi shape memory alloys were made by sputtering and characterized by XRD, DSC and RES. Subsequently, the films were irradiated by He+ ions at several doses with a view to determining the effects of such treatment on thin films of shape memory alloy. Both the possible degradation of the shape memory effect and change in transition temperature were studied. We conclude from the experiments that even at very low doses (below 0.01 dpa) the premartensitic transformation was affected by ion irradiation and the characteristic temperatures were significantly lowered.