I am very impressed with the progress made so far by the SFI, which is still in its infancy, and understand it will make financial investments amounting to around €200 million by the end of March this year. One has to be impressed by Dr. William Harris, director general of Science Foundation Ireland, whose speech to the Irish Management Institute's national management conference in Killarney, entitled "The New Business Environment – Navigating In Uncharted Waters", I read with interest. He realises that we are in a race to take a prominent position on the scientific map of the world. With a budget of €635 million to make this happen and a compass in his hand, he is working out the co-ordinates and has been doing so for some time. He believes that Ireland's sustained economic growth and prosperity will depend on establishing a knowledge-based economy, a high level of research and development and a culture of scientific and technological innovation.