Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the science and technology development programme, in the context of the next three-year strategy, will consideration be given to our once again investing in pure research? There is concern within the science community that we may be losing out on opportunities to acquire information which would be very helpful with big data. While the role of the scientist is to inquire, all the information available to him or her would be very helpful to us in our economy. Another issue of concern is whether we should be looking at investing in low frequency telescope in Ireland, which would be one of many across Europe. It is an issue about which there is currently a great deal of discussion. Given that as a country we have a tremendous heritage in this area, should we be focusing on it on again?