Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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115. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to outline his views on concerns that there is currently a drive for commercially realisable research in science in a limited set of prescribed areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12387/15]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The Government remains committed to the importance of science, technology and innovation (STI) given the key role that it plays in underpinning economic recovery and maintaining Ireland's competitiveness.

Ireland has successfully built up a strong science base as result of significant funding and an ambitious policy of building up capacity in our Higher Education Institutes and in our enterprise base over the last decade and a half. The Strategy for Science, Technology & Innovation (2006 to 2013) was a broad based strategy which covered funding for research and innovation across all disciplines and across the full continuum of research from basic to applied as well as commercialisation of research.

Economic and fiscal conditions in the intervening period informed the Government's decision to implement a range of policies directed at accelerating the economic and societal return on our STI investment. Research Prioritisation was one such key policy initiative and saw a concentration of the majority of competitive funding on areas which were deemed most likely to secure greater economic and societal impact, particularly in the form of jobs. The priority areas were identified, following rigorous analysis and intensive engagement with all key stakeholders by the Research Prioritisation Steering Group (a broad based group comprising membership from industry and academia) on the basis of existing strengths of the public research system, existing strengths of the enterprise base, opportunities that exist in terms of the global marketplace and those which are most likely to deliver economic and societal impact and employment.

While Research Prioritisation saw a greater emphasis on the economic and societal impact of research it did not represent a move away from funding basic research. Policy has been and will continue to support research across the full continuum from basic to applied, through to commercialisation of research. While the mandate of Science Foundation Ireland was expanded in 2013 to include applied as well as basic oriented research, SFI is still mandated to fund earlier stage research. However, all research supported by SFI must be in strategic areas of opportunity for the State in line with our research prioritisation agenda and it must have impact - this approach will continue to underpin policy into the future and will be a central pillar of the Government's Strategy.

Excellence in scientific research has been and will continue to be a cornerstone in the development of our science base in Ireland. In the context of our vision for the future, we must have a strong and excellent research base particularly in areas where our strengths can match opportunities.

Equally important is the translation of research and commercialisation of ideas. Ireland is ranked third in the EU, according to the European Commission's "Indicator of Innovation Output”, which measures the extent to which ideas from innovative sectors are able to reach the market, providing better jobs and making Europe more competitive. All of the national indicators show that our focus on commercialisation of research is having an impact. The number of technologies licensed to industry, which is one of the most relevant indicators of commercialisation performance in the research system, rose significantly from 12 in 2005 to 87 in 2012 and invention disclosures and spin outs also increased substantially during that period. We established Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI) in 2013 to make it even easier for companies to access and use ideas developed through publicly-funded research to develop new products and services and ultimately create jobs and exports.

A consultation process designed to inform the development of a broad based Strategy, which will be a successor to the Strategy for Science Technology & Innovation, is underway. Submissions received from various stakeholders will be considered in detail by my Department and the Interdepartmental Committee which has been tasked with developing proposals for the new Strategy. This Committee includes representatives from key Government Departments and the Higher Education Authority as well as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government and is expected to complete its work by the Summer.

Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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116. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to set out his views on the current level of investment in long-term fundamental science research; if he will ensure that funding for this area of research is being provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12388/15]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Prior to a Government policy decision to make a significant investment in science, technology and innovation, research funding in Ireland was at very low levels. However, from 2000, an ambitious policy was adopted - investing in people, infrastructure and associated facilities to build the science base across many areas of scientific research in both our higher education institutions and other public research organisations; and direct support to the enterprise sector to help individual companies to build their capacity for research and development. As a result significant steps have been made in establishing a strong and excellent public research base particularly in areas where our strengths can match opportunities.

Building on this success, this Government introduced a number of policy initiatives targeted at accelerating the economic and societal return on our investment in this area. In reaching its conclusions on foot of rigorous analysis and intensive engagement with all key stakeholders, the Research Prioritisation Steering Group – a broad based group comprising membership from industry and academia - identified 14 priority areas around which the majority of competitive funding should be targeted. The areas were identified on the basis of existing strengths of the public research system, existing strengths of the enterprise base, opportunities that exist in terms of the global marketplace and those which are most likely to deliver economic and societal impact and employment.

Evidence, from both the EU and internationally, shows that this strategy is paying off. Globally, we are ranked:

- 11^thin the Global Innovation Index 2014, out of 142 countries.

- 15^thin the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook for 2014, up two places from 2013.

- 1^stin the world for inward investment and quality, as per the IBM Global Location Trends Report of 2013.

- 1^stin Europe and 2^ndin the world for the number of investment jobs per capita, as per the same report.

- 3^rdin the new EU 'Indicator of Innovation Output', and

- 9^thin the European Commission's 2014 Innovation Union Scoreboard.

Excellence in scientific research has been and will continue to be a cornerstone in the development of our science base in Ireland and this has been complemented in recent years by a sharper focus on the relevance and impact of research. While Research Prioritisation saw a greater emphasis on the economic and societal impact of research it did not represent a move away from funding basic research. Policy has been and will continue to be to support research across the full continuum from basic to applied, through to commercialisation of research. Ireland has been listed among the top 20 countries in global rankings for the quality of our scientific research and we have excelled in certain scientific disciplines. For example, Ireland is ranked:

- 1st in immunology,

- 1st in animal and dairy,

- 3rd in nanotechnology and

- 4th in computer science.

While the mandate of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) was expanded in 2013 to include applied as well as basic oriented research, SFI is still mandated to fund earlier stage research. However, all research supported by SFI must be in strategic areas of opportunity for the State in line with our research prioritisation agenda and it must have impact. Impact is measured broadly across a range of areas including the economy and society, health and well-being, capacity and skills, natural capital and the built environment. This has manifested itself in the establishment of 12 large scale research centres in areas of relevance to the economy and society.

In the context of our ongoing fiscal constraints and the many competing demands for investment of public funds, the Government will continue to support excellent and impactful research across the continuum from basic to applied in strategic areas of opportunity for the State. This approach will underpin the successor to the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation which is currently being formulated by an Interdepartmental Committee which includes key Government Departments and the HEA as well as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government.