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

Regardless of when is the right time to do so, I will speak now for convenience. I thank the Minister for his explanation of the amendments we have discussed and it makes sense. I am happy to support that. I thank him also for his clarification in respect of section 3 regarding the digital archive.

I take the opportunity to thank the officials as well because I took up the invitation on Committee Stage to engage with them. The amendment was refined between Committee and Report Stages, at which point it was passed. I appreciate that. When preparing this afternoon, I read the debate from the Seanad. The officials were to the fore to advise and guide the Members there as well. That is also appreciated. I thank the Minister for facilitating that.

I have a final comment on the targets and the overall objectives. I appreciate the Minister of State's comments that maybe GDP has risen and maybe, on the 1.5% of GDP, we are doing better than the figures might suggest, but am sure he would agree not to set a limit on our ambition either. Not every country might be at 2.5% of GDP but many of our competitors for foreign direct investment and intellectual property generation, such as Singapore, Finland, Denmark and Israel, are. If we do not do it, this is a mobile resource that will move elsewhere. It is important to note that as well. Let us aim for the stars and see how far we get.

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