Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I do not accept that contention. Much work has been done on advancing science and maths and thankfully we are seeing a higher take up this year compared to recent years in terms of leaving certificate participation. Much work is being done on project maths. Much effort has been made by professionals and educationalists to try to ensure the attention of the student population is brought to the importance of science, technology, engineering and maths to future career prospects and to encourage a greater level of participation in higher level mathematics by leaving certificate students.

It is important that this happens and there has been some improvement because of the initiatives already taken. More work is required to be done and the question of double points for maths is under consideration as part of the initiative and I believe it is one of the recommendations made. However, this issue is wider and the question of the innovation fund is not simply a matter of public funding; it is a matter of how one leverages private funding and ensures public funding is concentrated in such a way that it can be augmented by existing research capacity in the private sector. Some research will be applied and some will be pure research.

Much funding and capacity has been invested in this area since we started with this strategy on science, technology and innovation. Previously, there had been no overarching strategy. The strategy was introduced some years ago by the Government and has been regarded as successful and far more coherent than what was in place previously. The task force report has further recommendations for consideration in this respect. Moving responsibility for the programme for research in third level institutions to the Department with responsibility for enterprise was part of the process of bringing that funding together into a more single-stream fund where one could see the overall situation and see where the priorities were and the extent of output for the amount of money being provided. This has been regarded by the research community as a great advance.

There is the wider issue of how we develop industrial policy to increase productivity across the board, and not regard this simply as a niche activity but something that relates to the production of goods and services throughout the economy. We must also consider how we can get more from less and use funding that can leverage further funding from the private sector as a means of ensuring that we stay competitive and that we develop product lines that enable us to sell our goods and services competitively in the international marketplace. This will determine the extent to which recovery can take place, growth can return to the economy and employment creation can be generated on a sustainable basis.

I do not agree with the contention that the fact we had to meet budget realities and ensure we indicate at home and abroad that we are prepared to bring our public finances into line has meant the need to adjust our budgets. It is part of a wider objective, which is to ensure that the country is seen to be taking charge of its own destiny and not leaving it to others to make decisions for us.

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