John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy may be correct. It is clear from Innovation 2000 that there is a commitment to establish a competitive fund across all the disciplines and sites to support research that is being done that might be under funded and new research that is coming on board, so the commitment is there. This fund will be established and administered by the research council. There is a commitment to at least keep the funding on a par for new projects. This fund will be established and farmed out.

The Deputy raised the issue of Ireland joining CERN. Ireland is exploring the possibility of membership of CERN which, at present day costs, will cost about €1 million per year. We are looking at possibly observer status for this year and, perhaps, 2017. If anything changes in the area I will come back to the Deputy.

The Deputy asked abut attracting new scientists and so on into Ireland. Again, Innovation 2000 and Science Foundation Ireland are keen that funding is made available to attract people into the sciences. Speaking to Science Foundation Ireland this morning, I am informed it has a couple of projects coming on board in the next couple of months, about which I will inform everybody, as to how it hopes to attract third level applicants and those from the sciences - biology, chemistry and so on - to high tech science. In the next couple of months Science Foundation Ireland and I will announce a project to include new technologies and new innovations from people who want to become involved in science. Across Europe, it is accepted that we are probably below par in terms of those who are coming into the sciences in Ireland.

Did the Deputy ask something about innovation?