Mary White (Fianna Fail)

The major challenge we face in the economy is to get the more than 400,000 people unemployed back into the workforce and to ensure the stability of companies that are wavering in terms of survival. We need the smart economy agenda. This phrase is bandied about and people do not understand what it means. The smart economy agenda is about increasing productivity throughout the economy and about being open to new ideas and new and better ways of doing things. We must continue to invest in research and development. This, coupled with revitalising Irish entrepreneurship, will be the cornerstone of the next wave of economic development. Tragically, the body responsible for promoting science and innovation, Science Foundation Ireland, has had its budget for 2010 cut by 9%. This constitutes a reduction of 25% on the original planned 2010 allocation under the strategy for science, technology and innovation. Since the establishment of Science Foundation Ireland in 2003, the pool of talent in the higher education institutes has increased considerably. While there are 2,500 quality scientists and engineers within the third level system, owing to the changes in the budget for 2010 we will see a significant reduction in these numbers. Science Foundation Ireland estimates that 400 to 500 researchers will be lost by the end of the year.