James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In the next one we have gone from ninth to 12th to 21st.

It is quite a drop. I will not labour the point but of the five key metrics that the Department has held out as being performance indicators, we have gone backwards in three, been static in one and moved forward with only one. That is a serious concern, to be frank.

We can look at the top level figure. The Minister of State mentioned a moment ago the Innovation 2020 targets. I will pick a target in Innovation 2020 indicating that the State will spend 2.5% of gross national product, GNP, on research and development. That is a target the Government agreed but the reality is that in the previous three years we are nowhere near it. Again, we have gone backwards from 1.74% in 2015 to 1.67% in 2016 and 1.44% of GNP in 2017. Rather than getting close to the Government-set target of 2.5% of GNP, we are getting further from it. At 1.44% of GNP, we are approximately halfway to the target. I asked the Taoiseach about this in the Chamber a few months ago and his response, to be honest, was disappointing. He said it amounted to much money and there were other competing goals for the same money. That would be reasonable except it was the Government that set the target. I am not saying this to be negative or awkward but it is a statement of fact. I hope the Government remains committed to Innovation 2020 and the 2.5% of GNP figure. We are not getting there and we are not even going the right direction. Will the Minister of State clarify the state of play on that?