Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with what the Minister of State said. Put simply, we have somewhat been victims of our own success because GNP in this country has grown hugely over the last years. The percentage has, therefore, gone down. Where the Department was able to get extra money, the vast majority went to innovation. There was an addition of €105 million in the innovation budget between 2015 and 2017. In monetary terms, we have continued to increase, but as a percentage of GNP, it has gone down somewhat. It is our plan to get it back on target. We have certain things happening in the economy. We are a centre for aircraft leasing for the whole world so that obviously brings up the figure. Members can rest assured that it is a priority here. Between my Department and the Department of Education and Skills, we spend €760 million per annum in this space. It is not the contribution from the Exchequer has gone down. It has certainly gone up but we have to get up to 2.5%. That is our target. Our aim is to increase it to 2.5% of GNP.