David Norris (Independent)

I am speaking to the principle of the motion. I am talking about this precise debate and the way it is handled. I could not be more central if I tried, as I am sure the Acting Chairman will see because she is a woman of broad imagination and sympathy. I remind the House that important legislation was rushed through all Stages in the House this morning. I think this is frightful and disgraceful.

I am glad I was here to catch some of the Minister of State's contribution because he spoke with characteristic verve and a positive attitude and without endlessly reading from a script so he knew what he was talking about. I can agree with some of what he said but when he talked about certain areas of innovation and said we have 50% of the work done and all the incoming Government has to do is finish the other 50%, I wish that was all the incoming Government had to do. On the contrary, the incoming Government is faced with a horrendously difficult economic situation, as the Minister of State is perfectly aware.

This may be taken as an aside but it is an extremely relevant aside. I was thrilled as I walked down to the Royal Irish Academy this evening to the launch of a book which is relevant to this area. It was to be launched by Vincent Browne but I had to leave before he arrived. As I walked, I heard on RTE radio Joe Higgins MEP speaking in the European Parliament. He said something that I have been saying in this House and naturally I agree with it because I agree with myself. He was asking how it was possible to create a just civil society and a proper economy based on principles of injustice and immorality, that every single economic commentator acknowledges now that it is wrong and a mistake to inflict the bill for the gambling habits of the banks on the innocent Irish taxpayer. I refute absolutely the idea that we are responsible for the situation from which the Minister's innovative proposals are trying to get us out. This has to be addressed. I was delighted to hear, from the instant and hysterical response, that Joe Higgins had rightly got under the skin of José Manuel Barroso.

With regard to the question of innovation, the Minister of State comes from a very talented family and he will know about the creative imagination, the capacity for lateral thinking, the inventiveness of Irish people. I have recently written a foreword for a book on the subject of who are the Irish. It is written by a fellow who has been involved in all kinds of different things. The writer, Mr. Moran, was involved in the building, catering and entertainment businesses. He lives in London. He took people from every one of the 32 counties, not just from the areas of literature and the arts - but also from business, banking, science, invention, law. We have that raw material of the creative imagination; what we need is to move it further on to the development of those incentives in a proper way.

The Minister of State spoke about patents. I did a James Joyce show in Munich some years ago in order to raise funds for an Irish charity and at the invitation of some members of the Irish community who were working in the European Patents Office. They asked if something could be done to harmonise the patent system throughout Europe. There is not sufficient time for this Government to do anything but we need to do it in order to encourage people.

The second part of my argument is to highlight the number of new, fresh and original creative ideas in this country. For instance, a multinational company based in Waterford closed its plant and repatriated the research and design ideas to America. Our ingenuity and creativity was stifled because although that plant was making a profit, the American home base was in some financial trouble and perfectly legally they took our ideas. We should try to keep our creative talent here.

Last week I attended the Young Scientist Exhibition at the RDS. If anyone wants to see innovation and ideas at work, this is the place to go. For instance, a lad from Belvedere College explained his invention in a most magisterial manner. He has designed a cyclist's helmet which monitors head movements. The movement of the cyclist's head to right or left sets off a flashing rear light direction indicator. There is no need to take one's hands off the handlebars. Even better, another young lad from another school has invented an application for a mobile phone or a BlackBerry which can turn the phone into a defibrillator. Many wonderful young athletes have collapsed on playing pitches or have died from sudden adult death syndrome. I am aware that defibrillators have been installed in clubhouses but every telephone could be turned into a defibrillator by means of this invention. I advised the young man to take out a patent for his invention and he has done so. Last year's winners of the competition were from Clonakilty. They invented a test for enzymes in milk. It was a simple but fantastic invention. We can lead the world. What young people need is the encouragement to do it and that Young Scientist Exhibition is just marvellous. My old friends, the young women from Clonakilty, were there this year. One of my good news stories concerns them. A group of transition year young women students in the Sacred Heart school did a project on the problem regarding the drainage of rich nutrients from farmland which had caused a stink on the shoreline. It was awful for the locals and a disincentive for tourism. The girls identified the problem and they collected samples. A chemical analysis showed that this material could be compressed and turned into briquettes that burned for twice as long as peat briquettes and had the same heat co-efficiency. This is a fantastic development. The mother of a dyslexic daughter created an aid which helps those with dyslexia by cutting the back off a cornflakes box and taking a triangle out of it, all to focus the eye. She went to the Fingal enterprise centre and the invention is being manufactured in plastic with different coloured lenses. She told me she appeared on "Dragons Den" and she was thrashed by one of the mouldy old lions. The cowardly lion mauled her but the three other dragons invited her to talk to them after the programme because they thought her product was brilliant and they will help her with the manufacture and world-wide marketing. It is not a language-dependent product. One could read Hebrew backwards, read Chinese upside down. We need such ideas but they require investment. I spoke at an event in-----