Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. It is always good to have him here. I also thank him for his positive comments about Senators' contributions this morning on the Order of Business. I will remind him of his words and seek his support when the referendum on the Seanad comes before the people.

In March 2012, the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Sherlock, and the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, launched the Government's plan to target the majority of the core ¤500 million budget that the State spends on scientific research every year on areas with the greatest potential for economic return. That sum is a very considerable amount of money and in today?s economic climate it is vital that the return on this investment is as high as possible, particularly in terms of job provision. Scientific research is the means by which new knowledge can be adopted by enterprise, woven into high-value goods and services and then exported to the world market. That is all good news for the economy and it is the reason investment in research continues to be a priority for this Government. In trying to ensure the State gets as much return as possible for the large amount invested, this Bill is part of a series of changes being put in place, including a research prioritisation exercise, a one-stop shop for commercialising research and a new strategy from SFI, which aims to become the best science funding agency in the world.

The main focus of the Bill is on extending the remit of SFI. Established under the Industrial Development Act 2003, the foundation provides grants to researchers and research groups based in higher education institutions. The Bill will expand its remit to include applied research, with the objective of increasing the potential for turning the ideas generated into products, services and jobs. At present, there is a gap in this area which needs to be filled, so that ideas generated by research can be further supported and developed by organisations such as Enterprise Ireland and the IDA. In 2012, more than 40% of IDA job announcements, representing more than 4,000 jobs, were in companies with research links to SFI research teams.

Since the establishment of SFI in 2003, the level of scientific research taking place in Ireland has grown to world class status.

The Government announced last March that it would refocus public research spending on 14 areas with the greatest potential for creating jobs and growth, and the director general of SFI, Professor Mark Ferguson, has supported this. He was much quoted this morning. He sees it as a way of leaning towards targeted research instead of having an emphasis on blue-sky or basic research, which has been the focus in recent years. However, within these 14 areas there will be ample room for basic and applied research. Concerns have been voiced by scientists that funding for basic research will be harder to acquire but the experts say there is not a real divide between basic and applied research. It is a continuum where one feeds into the other. Without knowledge application, nobody benefits. Without new knowledge generation, there is no application.

Not only will requests to SFI for funding have to be scientifically excellent; they must also clearly describe the potential impact of the science in an economic, social or environmental context. The 14 priorities put a strong focus on life sciences and information technology as well as innovation in manufacturing, services and business processes. This year, SFI will allocate more than ¤150 million in funding for research and by 2015, 100% of funding from the foundation will be focused on these 14 areas. The Bill also includes a function for SFI in the promotion of science, technology, engineering and maths. The responsibility for the administration of the programme on discovering science and engineering, which was under the remit of Forfás, has been transferred to the foundation. This will promote a positive attitude to careers in science, technology, engineering and maths and promote greater understanding by the public of their importance.

Another important element to the Bill is that it will allow SFI to broaden its scope beyond the State, allowing it to provide direct funding to institutions in Northern Ireland and to have the possibility of entering into cost-sharing arrangements with international partners. Currently, SFI's participation in these schemes is restricted due to the 2003 Act and Irish researchers are potentially missing out on additional funding. It is important for Ireland, through SFI, to be ready to participate in international programmes in areas where we have research strengths when the opportunities arise. Sharing development and operational costs also makes sense because of the increasing cost of scientific and engineering infrastructure. Ireland must have the facility to contribute to such infrastructure so that we, in turn, can benefit from the research investment made by other states.

Ireland has come a long way in terms of scientific research. We are now ranked third in the world for immunology research, sixth in nanotechnology and eighth in materials science. The legislation will ensure the groundwork done over the years will be built on by better targeting of State resources. Translating the results of high-class research into marketable goods and services is the challenge for the future. I congratulate the Minister of State and his team for their hard work in preparation for the Bill, which I commend to the House.