Mary Henry (Independent)

This Bill is most welcome. The initiative the Minister took some years ago regarding science and technology and the need to maintain and promote research and development has been magnificent. She is to be congratulated warmly on having managed to ring-fence the funding for research, which is deemed to be of great importance economically and industrially, and for the manner in which she has dealt with the matter in her Department. The efforts made during the last round of what are described as "adjustments" must have been ferocious because in every other area of research the most appalling things have happened.

I was interested to hear Senator Coghlan say that Dr. Harris claims the universities are well prepared. They were well prepared, but that is no longer the case since the programme for research in third level institutions has been decimated. The Minister must look at what is happening in some of the other departments if she wants to ensure that Science Foundation Ireland is a success. We have recruited magnificent people to the foundation. The Minister and I attended the opening, which she performed, of Trinity's nanoscience technology unit where she saw the international calibre of its recruits. Science Foundation Ireland will be like a beached whale if people are not available to feed into it. The universities were encouraged to involve academic staff in research, but as soon as they did so huge amounts of capital funding for third level institutions was cut back. There have been serious cutbacks in the research programmes of virtually every department.

I am delighted that Senator O'Rourke is here, though I am sure she will not remember one of the first debates in which I was involved in this House. She was at the Department of Enterprise and Employment when Digital collapsed in Galway. I told her in this House that she should try to hold on to the research and development element of the operation. Such units take a long time to build up and one is bound to find other firms which recognise their value. In the case of Digital, Boston Scientific had taken over the research and development unit after about six weeks. I am sure the Leader remembers that important event.

I am dismayed to see what is happening in other areas in which excellence should be aimed at as it is from these areas that people should be moving to Science Foundation Ireland. We are coasting along on the idea that we have done well in the past, which we feel means a huge effort does not have to be put in again. In science and research one must realise every day that one are in direct competition with people in different parts of the world. We cannot have an on-off scenario whereby the funding is stopped and recommenced after three years.