Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

Until I obtain a ruling from the Committee on Procedure and Privileges, and given my current predicament, I intend to continue to operate as I am doing now.

Significantly, Dr. Harris has stated:

Our role at SFI is to be a catalyst and make those things happen. In the US the National Science Foundation was established and was one of the principal Government tools that helped shape the colleges and universities to create the research processes that are now the best in the world. It is that research system that has helped to fuel the industrial enterprise that still exists.

It is good to know that Dr. Harris believes the universities in this country are well prepared and that there are individuals here willing to promote things with a passion. Speaking at the IMI in Killarney in April last he said:

Allow me first to give you the brief on the Science Foundation Ireland. SFI has been charged by the Government to invest in the scientific and engineering fields underpinning bio-technology and information and communications technology. It is predicted that the market for bio-technology industries will rise to £250 billion by the year 2005 and support three million jobs in Europe. Research in bio-technology will affect health-care, pharmaceuticals, environmental management, agriculture, green science, economic goods, and food and drink businesses. It includes fields such as DNA chips, genomics, bio-sensors, drug delivery and bio-remediation.

The other area of SFI's investment is information and communications technology or ICT. This includes broadband, wireless and mobile transmission. It includes parallel processing systems, engineering for reliability of data transfer and wearable sensors. It also includes computer modelling, distributed networking, computer-based training, nano-scale assembly and human language understanding.

He further pointed out:

Thanks to satellites and fibre optic cables, ideas leap among people almost like lightning. Nowadays, through a terminal, a satellite and a decent battery or a plug in the wall, ideas can jump from an island to anywhere and likewise attract. The only limit now is the worth of the idea, the intelligence that uses it and the innovation that it creates.