Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Science Foundation Ireland spends €150 million out of the €724 million in research. This oriented research, funded from the enterprise sector and the enterprise policy dimension, is less than a quarter of the overall research spend. As the Deputy knows, the Higher Education Authority allocates substantial moneys to individuals to undertake research in their own fields and they are entirely free in the application of that time.

We have competitive calls for our €150 million budget, which is designed to have maximum impact on the Irish economy and on society. For example, who could not say that advanced materials bioengineering research being carried out at Amber is not an area? Amber's research area is 2D materials and composites, biomaterials, medical devices, semi-conductor and memory devices, polymer nano-composites and membranes. To me, that means all the connected, smart products, the internet of things - that is what they are at and that is the fundamental direction in which we are going.

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