Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The application form for a research and development grant or tax break should require companies to identify, in a logical manner, supported by information, the number of jobs and output they expect to deliver. When the investment is subsequently made, companies should have a responsibility to communicate to the Department the number of jobs created and the turnover increases which have resulted. Those types of slide rule are used in many grant funding application forms.

I have regularly been in the House to discuss the regions. A two-tier economy is developing in the State. Of all new IDA investment last year, 70% was in County Dublin, which has 25% of the population. Everyone agrees that research and development and innovation investment kick-start an economy. If we cannot measure the amount of research and development investment in the regions and the resulting outputs in job creation and turnover increases, it puts us at a significant disadvantage in the context of proper strategic spatial development nationally.

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