Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 76: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he has plans to adopt an all-Ireland research and development strategy which will include central and local government, businesses, trade unions and educational institutions; the mechanisms included in proposed plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15622/07]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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On 18 June last year, the Government launched a comprehensive Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation to 2013, based on the work of the Cabinet Subcommittee on STI, which I chair, and the Interdepartmental Committee on STI, lead by my Department. I can assure the Deputy that our STI Strategy was developed in consultation with stakeholders in the STI arena, including enterprise and academia and I presented it in detail to those stakeholders in July last year, where it was widely welcomed and endorsed. The Strategy was prepared in a whole of government and an all-island context, with a dedicated chapter on the benefits and opportunities of the all-island and international dimensions of STI and how these are being, and will be, addressed under the Strategy.

Excellent progress is already being made, with the Higher Education Research Group (HERG) and Technology Ireland (TI) established as the mechanisms to deliver the Strategy. The HERG and TI bring together all of the Government Departments and Agencies with a research remit. The all-island approach is embedded throughout the STI Strategy and, as the current NDP makes clear, throughout the Government's policy on STI. Close linkages are being developed between our officials, agencies, institutions and our advisory science councils to ensure that synergies and mutual challenges are identified. The Cabinet Subcommittee on STI (at its March 2007 meeting) approved the compilation of an inventory of existing Department to Department and Agency to Agency N/S R&D cooperation. When completed, this will assist in identifying further promising new areas and effective existing models for widening and deepening R&D collaboration.

A Number of specific actions are underway or proposed. We are liaising with our Northern counterparts to maximize drawdown by the two administrations from the EU's Framework Programme for Research, FP7, for collaborative research. The all-island trade and business development body, InterTradeIreland is engaged with a mapping study of all of the publicly funded research performing centres on the island of Ireland, which will be of great benefit to both administrations in taking forward future planning in this key area. In addition, the Government has already made clear that a future call by Science Foundation Ireland for a Centre for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) will be made on an all-island basis. A ground-breaking partnership between the United States and Ireland, North and South, on research in key areas such as diabetes and cystic fibrosis is bringing researchers from the three jurisdictions together for dialogue and common approaches, with a view to developing collaborative R&D projects.