Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Upton tapped into the intellectual issue, which is of great concern and on which there has not been much agreement. Moorepark and the universities have conducted a lot of public good research, in particular under the FIRM programme, which will be available to all. I agree that driving research and development within the food industry is paramount if we are to compete. Large companies have been in a position to make investments. Moorepark provides access to its facilities, particularly to smaller companies. Perhaps we will all have an opportunity to visit the centre. Recently, I had the opportunity to open a new centre, which is second to none and is more than helpful in addressing the issue of supporting personal and public good research.

Public good research under the FIRM and other programmes will be important from the broad intellectual perspective. Equally, however, it will be incumbent on companies to conduct research. Enterprise Ireland and my Department have supported investment in a number of companies. Deputy Upton is correct that we must increase our investments in research. The Government has brought a number of Departments together to ensure that we reach our capacity.

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