James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Before introducing the question I put on record the fact that the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, and I travelled to the European Space Agency recently as part of a very useful trade mission. I acknowledge and recognise the Minister of State's cross-party and collaborative approach in that matter and it was an excellent trip. The question is in a related field regarding Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, and its remit, specifically whether there has been a detrimental effect in research areas because of too much focus on applied research at the expense of basic research.

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