Ms Hazel Ahern-Flynn:

As the Deputy says, there is a lot more we could be doing in respect of research and innovation in this country. Although there are some immediate cost pressures, we would like the Government not to lose sight of some of the longer term strategic issues. One of the things we would like to see come out of the upcoming budget is investment in research and innovation, and education. We would like to see public spending on research and innovation increase by €100 million, which is approximately 20% of the total spend at the moment. In considering how to promote research and innovation further, one issue we have at the moment is that our SMEs are not researching and innovating in ways that increase their end productivity to the levels we see in the multinational sector. Part of the reason for that relates to the design of some of the tax incentives and supports we have put in place to encourage that kind of research. In the case of the research and development tax credit, there are issues around the qualifying limits of expenditure on-----