Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)

In deputising for my colleague, Senator Clune, I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, and compliment him on the fine job he is doing as Minister of State with responsibility for research and innovation. It is appropriate we would have the opportunity in the Seanad to discuss the forthcoming Euroscience Open Forum, which is to be held in Dublin. This forum, as the Minister of State has said, is the highlight of Dublin's year as European City of Science.

I congratulate Professor Patrick Cunningham, the chief scientific adviser to the Government, who was the key person who led the bid to secure Dublin's tenure as city of science for this year. Four years ago, in Strasbourg, the announcement was made and prior to that Professor Cunningham would have led a team to ensure Dublin was successful in edging out Vienna.

As the Minister of State has said, this prestigious event takes place every two years, and Turin, in 2010, and Barcelona, in 2008, were the previous hosts. It is a great honour for Dublin to host this conference. It is not only about the city of Dublin; it is about the island of Ireland. In 2006-2007, as preparations were made for the bid to secure Dublin as the science capital of Europe for this year, the Celtic tiger would have been booming and science and its applications and potential economic value was far from the minds of many. Looking back at how far we have come, we should acknowledge that the Government, at that time advised by Professor Cunningham, certainly was aware of what needed to be done to develop Ireland's capacities in the sciences, to develop Ireland as a smart economy and to promote it as an international hub for activities in science and technology.

This ambition has continued with the present Minister of State with responsibility for research and innovation and it underlines the commitment, as does the continued funding for Science Foundation Ireland, which was established in 2000 to oversee funding to the biotechnology and ICT areas which at that time were identified as the engine of future growth in the world economy.

No doubt the commitment demonstrated by the State towards developing science and excellence in research would certainly have played a strong role in ensuring Dublin was awarded the title of city of science this year. It is an important platform for this country. We are renowned for our artistic and literary heritage and we are now making a name for ourselves in the area of innovation and research. Not alone will this event be important for ourselves in terms of attracting investment in research or facilitating scientific projects, it will also be important in educating and informing the public on the benefits of science and the value that science technology, engineering and maths will continue to play in the future economic development of this country.

There is a dual purpose to this event and I note the remarks of Dr. Gail Cardew, who is the chair of the ESOF supervisory board and vice-president of Euroscience. She said was particularly impressed with Dublin's clear vision in opening the event out to the world and the lengths to which the Dublin committee went to bring international partners, including industry, on board. She was also impressed by the emphasis on maximising communication technology. That appears to be the focus that swung it for Dublin. Professor Cunningham has stated the events of the ESOF and the year of Dublin as city of science would underline a philosophy of ensuring the way in which science serves society is continually identified and promoted. The list of more than 106 events that are being highlighted throughout the year and which range from weather to air quality to solar studies to water quality to the scientific value of music demonstrate how science interacts with our lives every day.

I referred to Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, the body charged with ensuring investment in research teams identifies those who are most likely to generate new knowledge of value in the fields of science and engineering, especially across the areas of biotechnology, information and communications technology, and sustainable and energy efficient technologies. One of the strengths of Science Foundation Ireland is that partnerships between scientists and industry are strongly encouraged and the needs of industry are identified. Scientists and engineers become aware of these needs, and also industry has an insight into what new areas are being developed in our third level institutions. It is important this would continue.

Research and innovation in our third level sectors must focus on developing employment. I was particularly pleased to read the Minister of State's recent announcement of the Science-2-Business programme which is due to take place in the Euroscience forum next month. This also will bring academics and members of the business community together and highlight how publicly funded research, which is the type of research supported by SFI, can be transferred and can develop successful companies. Science Foundation Ireland's figures show a continued increase year on year in the number of collaborations industry has with its researchers. This is important to note as it was never the intention that SFI would support researchers to sit in their laboratories or at their computers and produce information for the sake of it. We must continue to ensure the research that is carried out is made available to and is influenced by industry to ensure maximum return for this economy.

The ESOF meeting next month will be an opportunity to bring together a range of individuals from all over Europe, from scientists to business persons to policy makers to communicators to members of the public, to discuss and focus on science, the humanities, the social sciences and the direction in which these areas are moving. It comes at an exciting time in the world of technology which is developing at a faster pace than many of us can keep up with. There are many positives in the research area that should be highlighted. One last week of which we were informed was the valuable work being done by doctors in Cork who have shown that the level of radiation to which patients with Crohn's disease who have been referred for a CT scan are exposed can be significantly reduced while not losing any diagnostic accuracy. This is just one example of the constant flow of new innovations and new therapies that are being identified from research funding.

I especially welcome the joint announcement by the Minister, Deputy Bruton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, on 8 June outlining the new structures they intend to put in place to make it much easier to commercialise ideas. State-funded research stands at €800 million per annum, which is a significant figure, and we must maximise the return from that investment.