John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not wish to be condescending to the members who have been so supportive of research and development. We are grateful for that. They have been incisive in their questions over the past number of months on all issues of research and development, which is important to us. We recognise that in the tight fiscal space money has to be spent on health, education, housing and so on, but we must spend on innovation and research and development. We must give our researchers the same opportunity the 15 other countries in Europe give their researchers. The Department is forthright in its determination to join research organisations all over the world. I thank the members who are well up on research and development for their forthright contributions. We did not want the motion to pass on a nod and a wink, as it is great to have the opportunity to respond to the questions from members.