Ms Ann Riordan:

The vision for Science Foundation Ireland is one which emanates from a scientific perspective. Ireland is a small country. I will provide an analogy. Many years ago I was standing on Dún Laoghaire pier when the aircraft carrier, USS John F. Kennedy, sailed into Dublin Bay. As we were waiting to get on a tugboat to visit the ship, the HSS Stena Explorer entered the port. As it did so, it was literally obliged to perform a 180^o turn in order to allow passengers to alight. I was amazed by this. If we equate the USS John F. Kennedy equates to Europe and the HSS Stena Explorer to Ireland, we can see that the country is small and versatile. I am extremely passionate about this matter. If we work together for the good of the country and people do not seek to hold on to certain things, we can achieve whatever we want. It would take hours to turn the USS John F. Kennedy about. However, Ireland, like the HSS Stena Explorer, is versatile and can manoeuvre much more quickly. That is why I am passionate about Science Foundation Ireland and the vision for it. I cannot provide an answer today to how I can have an input into that vision, but the Senator may rest assured that I will be happy to return to the committee when I have been in the job for a few months or one year to answer some of his questions. I hope I can help in progressing the agenda already in place. I cannot see any reason it should not be progressed.

On the issue of regional disadvantage, for many years I was involved with the long-term unemployed in disadvantaged areas and responsible for the Tramlines programme which later became Fast Track to IT, FIT, across Ireland. It was primarily a Microsoft initiative which I led. I may be coming at it from a financial perspective, but those who survive in disadvantaged areas are very skilled. I fundamentally believe it takes a great deal of creativity to survive in such areas. Just because people are disadvantaged as a result of their being, for example, long-term unemployed, this does not mean that they are disadvantaged intellectually. The Smart Futures programme will help the areas to which I refer. People do not need to have fantastic academic backgrounds to work in biotechnology or, in particular, ICT. Regardless of the level at which one enters an organisation, one can, if one has the necessary skills, proceed on an upward path.

Perhaps Mr. Keane might provide some information on the Smart Futures programme.