Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 20: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the measures that will be taken in the south east to assist it to make the transition to a knowledge economy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24026/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The development of the knowledge-based economy is one of the key challenges and opportunities facing Ireland. The factors which have contributed to our economic success to date will not be sufficient to sustain our recent achievements. Increasing international competition is creating pressure for improvements in efficiency, quality and productivity and a growing need to innovate. These pressures are increasing and it requires courageous, forward-looking steps to achieve real strategic change and show tangible medium-term results.

The Government has made a major commitment, through the substantial investment set out in the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation (SSTI) and the National Development Plan (NDP) 2007-2013, to making the transition to a knowledge economy and ensure Ireland's continued progress towards securing its position as one of the world's advanced knowledge economies.

Investment in our people and ensuring that they have the skills required to live and work in the global knowledge economy is at the heart of the Government's strategy to progress towards a knowledge economy and society. Similarly we need to ensure that enterprises in Ireland have the absorptive capacity to turn knowledge into products and services that can be competitive and that they develop the capabilities to undertake research and development work in-house and to link effectively with the generators of new knowledge in the higher education sector in Ireland and internationally.

In this regard, the NDP sets out an investment of €8.2 billion to 2013 to make this vision a reality, establishing Ireland as a key location for leading edge research and development, and a location for high quality jobs that are underpinned by knowledge and high skill levels. The allocation of funding under the SSTI is predominantly on the basis of competitive funding calls and in general the programmes have no specific regional focus. Given the competitive nature of funding calls, funding can be expected to correlate closely to demographic and infrastructural factors, in particular the distribution of third level research institutions (universities, institutes of technology, etc) within the country.

Key to the Enterprise Development Agencies' Strategies for the South East Region is to progress the development of a knowledge-based economy, so that the region can compete both nationally and internationally for foreign direct investment and the development of indigenous companies. As part of the process of developing the capabilities of the region, the agencies work very closely with the Local Authorities, Chambers, and a range of private sector interests who supply business support services throughout the region. The Agencies continue to work closely with the third level educational institutions in the region so that the skill-sets necessary to attract high value added employment to the region are being developed. The agencies also maintain a close relationship with FÁS so that the requirements of industry particularly in the areas of training and upskilling are being met.

The South East region has recorded good success in attracting firms in high technology sectors thereby encouraging the transition to a knowledge economy. On the Life Sciences side, key project wins have included Genzyme (Waterford); Abbott and Boston Scientific (Clonmel); Waters Technology (Wexford), Cordis and Alza (Cashel); while several existing companies continue to contribute significantly to the employment base in the region, such as Bausch & Lomb (Waterford), IVAX (Waterford), Merck (Tipperary and Carlow), GlaxoSmithKline (Dungarvan) and Lake Region (New Ross).