Colm Burke (Fine Gael)

The issue of access to funding for research and development should be debated in the House. Are we using all of the available opportunities to access this funding? A proposal for the sharing of information across member states is on the European Commission's agenda for 2012. There is also a proposal regarding researchers from countries outside the European Union. More than 80% of those involved in research outside the Union end up working in the United States and do not come to Europe. We need to change the legislation in this area. In Ireland we produce many graduates, but we allow many opportunities to go out the door. It would be appropriate to have a debate on this issue and for the Minister to outline how we could further improve access to research funding and make sure we use every possible opportunity to carry out research. The net long-term benefit would be the creation of employment in industry. I, therefore, ask for a debate on this matter in the near future.