Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I welcome the Minister. I was at the meeting of the Joint Committee on Jobs, Social Protection and Education and the senior civil servants made some strong points, particularly that it was not the Government's job to create jobs, rather it was its duty to create the environment in which jobs could be created. These are the messages I welcome because that is what we must do. We heard ideas being introduced by some Senators today, including Senator Mary White, a real example of someone who grabbed the opportunities and said if she could be released from the constraints, she would create jobs. Private enterprise creates jobs.

I had a very interesting night. RTE is sponsoring a programme in which Drogheda is being used as a setting. At a meeting of 200 people, an ideas summit took place. The question was what could be done in Drogheda to ensure it would be the town others looked to as an example. I am bringing up that matter because the innovation and enthusiasm shown by those 200 people, seated at round tables of ten, demonstrate how things will happen. The Minister can encourage such inspiration.

When I was in Drogheda some time ago, I talked to a man who had been unemployed for eight months. He had applied for a job the previous November but did not get a reply. He asked what else he could do. His belief was that was all he should do, apply for a job and rely on someone else to create it. We must instil a sense of innovation in people in Ireland. On my return from Drogheda I found two students at my door to tell me they had invested in equipment to clean cars and that they wanted to clean mine. They did a great job, for which they were well able to charge, but they refused to sit back and do nothing.

Some years ago I was in Russia, in Ekaterinburg, a very interesting place, a place where one can stand with one foot in Europe and the other in Asia and have a photograph taken. There was snow on the ground and my feet were dirty. When I returned to the hotel, a young woman asked whether she could clean my shoes for me. I replied that I had just arrived that day and did not have any Russian money. She said there was no charge. I had my shoes cleaned by this young woman and got talking to her. She said her father said she had to learn capitalism, enterprise and how to work. She had to learn English as well and that is what she was doing there. She had come into the hotel and received permission to clean shoes. She was looking for any sort of work to do. That is the kind of innovation we are going to encourage, as we are asking too much of the Government in solving these problems. The most the Government can do, as Senator Kelly and others have said, is to reduce costs and make sure we are more competitive.

I looked at some figures. This summer the European Commission published an innovation Union competitiveness report covering all 27 member states and six associated countries. The report found that, in general, Ireland performed well in most indicators, reaching similar values to the EU average and that of the group of countries sharing similar research and innovation characteristics. However, there are other areas in which we need to pay more attention. Let us look at the level of inventiveness in the economy as measured by the number of patents which falls short in comparison with other countries in the European Union or other similar systems. Given that our number of patents is so low, can the Minister explain what steps he is going to take to encourage innovators to file patents here? There is an opportunity to do this, particularly in the food industry.

With regard to small and medium enterprises, we should be looking towards our strengths such as the food industry. Let us look, for instance, at the food innovation showcase which will be happening this month in New Zealand. It aims to welcome visitors from all over the world to see and explore New Zealand's leading edge food technologies, their companies and products. Let me cite one example of the innovation that will be on display. I had never heard of Flyhidrate. It is the world's first scientifically formulated three beverage system designed to counter the major stresses of long-haul flying and will be launched at the event. This is an, as yet, unseen product that will be a global first in the marketplace and will benefit both airline crews and passengers. The drink is the culmination of 18 months of research collaboration between teams from the University of Otago's school of physical education and department of food science. They worked together with leading nutritionists. The New Zealand Ministry of Science and Innovation which invests in businesses is growing New Zealand's economy through science and innovation. It has co-funded this drink's research and development. We can do so much in this area.

I had a very interesting lunch today with an American and some Irish colleagues in his company. I should declare an interest. My son is involved with the company, IdentiGEN, which developed a process at Trinity College, Dublin, for the traceability of beef and other animals. I worked on this issue ten years ago in our own company. The process has been initiated in the United States. The opportunities for such scientific technology are huge and we must find a way of developing it. The process is based on DNA traceability and does not involve paperwork. The work is done on computers and cannot be fooled with.

I have referred to the opportunities New Zealand and other countries have taken. This month TheIrish Times highlighted the success of the Cheestring, one of the Irish food industry's greatest success stories. It has had worldwide success to the tune of €80 million and keeps a factory in County Cork running 24 hours a day, five days a week. Kerry Foods cheese marketing director, Mr. Denis O'Riordan, gambled €4 million on the product - or perhaps £4 million at the time -and it paid off. Unfortunately, too few people are taking these gambles. We must encourage people to take chances and do what they can. Kerry Co-op became a global company when it realised some of its supposed waste products which it had to pay to dispose of could be transformed into valuable products. Other companies can gain inspiration in this regard.

Scotland is also putting innovation in its food industry at the very heart of economic recovery. The Scottish Government recently provided £30 million in awards through its food processing, marketing and co-operation grants scheme. It is actively supporting innovation in the food industry. One of our problems is that we imposed a deterrent - one could almost say a ban - on genetically modified products. We should be willing to see that there are opportunities in this area and that we cannot stay behind. The world's population is growing dramatically and other countries are using more modern scientific technology. We have almost said we will have nothing to do with this. We must encourage Europe to change its attitude, but we must also change ours.

Innovation is available to us, but it is up to us to do it. The Minister must loosen the strings and give us the opportunity to do so. I know his heart is in the right place. We must make sure we encourage innovators to adopt the most modern technology and achieve what they can achieve.