Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The problem is that all the funding going into basic research is for, as the Minister put it, oriented research. Funding is not being made available for blue-sky research. This is an issue I have raised with the Minister over the last decade or more in government and in opposition. There is a fundamental weakness in Government policy as it should not put all its eggs in one basket as regards applied research.

Taking hurling as an analogy, it is as if the Minister said we will put all the investment into Kilkenny, Cork and Clare hurling from under age right through to the senior teams, but we will forget about the likes of Waterford, Limerick, Offaly and the weaker counties and let them fend for themselves. The Government is putting the investment into basic research, but it is doing so in specialisations that already exist and that is the fundamental flaw.

In the particular correspondence that was signed by 900 scientists, the most damning indictment was that it clearly stated that we are now producing----

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