I was not aware I was to speak in the House until 20 minutes ago which, depending on how one looks at it, is either a boon or curse for Government members. I am the education and science spokesperson for the Green Party and have a particular interest in this Bill. I have been involved as a member of the Friends of Science since it was established and have learned much in the interim about science and how it operates, and about the benefits of having a body such as Science Foundation Ireland. While I will address some of the merits of the Bill, I will also speak in a wider context to say that while Science Foundation Ireland as an entity is welcome, we will be on a hiding to nothing unless the other coins in the slot fit.
I want to deal with a number of angles regarding this subject. In doing so, I wish to highlight some of the contributions which Government spokespersons or backbenchers have made to the debate. One of the first I noticed was that of Deputy Eoin Ryan who said that the Bill signals a fundamental change in our appreciation of the importance of research and development as an element of national infrastructure and that, in concert with other initiatives by the HEA, the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, it aims to put us firmly on the map as a research performer. If it does signal such a change, it has been a long time coming. We have a lot of catching up to do in that context and it is not good enough to simply set up a body which is, at present, operating on an interim basis as a sub-board of Forfás and will, through the Bill, be established as a separate legal entity. It is not enough to establish Science Foundation Ireland unless some of the other parts of the equation are included.
The stated aim of section 7(1) of the Bill is to create a standard of excellence in oriented basic research, to significantly develop our capability to conduct research by attracting world-class researchers to Ireland, and to have these scientists conduct the basic research on which future technologies will be built. There is a major flaw in that aim. Ireland has among the lowest level of indigenous research and development investment throughout the EU whereas Finland has the highest. It is no surprise, therefore, that Finland has a much more successful indigenous enterprise level. Nokia, a home-grown Finnish company, is a world-class brand which has taken over the mobile phone market and other aspects of telephony. Ireland does not have many home-grown heroes and where we do, they seem to be hubs of US multinationals.
I have a lot of respect for US multinationals. In a previous incarnation, I worked as a business journalist for manufacturing, research and development and IT magazines. I had the opportunity to visit many multinational companies, some US owned, some European owned and a few which were Irish owned. The Irish companies were generally smaller IT companies trying to blaze a trail in the software area, and some where quite successful in that. I no longer work as a journalist and am trying to be a Deputy. However, I worked full time in the field of journalism from 1992 until I became a councillor in 1999, and only gave up journalism completely in 2001 in the run-up to the general election.
Over the period of my work in journalism, I noticed a sea change in the economy and the boom which was created. During the debate on this Bill, there was banter from Deputies on both sides of the House regarding who was responsible for the boom. Every party that has been in Government can take some responsibility for the boom as much as the laissez-faire principles of the most recent Governments. In many ways, it was the IDA, learning the lessons of the past in trying to attract research and development and overseas industry to Ireland, that created the boom and the skilled workforce enabled us to meet the economic conditions those companies required. However, we have now moved on and may not have a similar boom for 50 years. Deputy Harney constantly tells us that we must move forward, add value and become more innovative in our approach.
The Industrial Development (Science Foundation Ireland) Bill is welcome in many ways. However, it has a narrow focus on IT and biotechnology, whereas it could reach out further and create the kinds of conditions that would enable indigenous research and development to thrive. There are many entrepreneurs in Ireland who, if given the opportunity, would be able to make a significant economic contribution.
I am from the 1980s generation, which used to dance to the Human League, Culture Club, Wham and other bands that people laugh at now, and what I remember from that decade is high unemployment. Many people in my peer group – friends, relatives and friends of friends – studied some form of science-based subject, but were forced to emigrate because there were not enough jobs. Even when the jobs became available, to these people's shock and horror many of them found that, despite their qualifications, they were doing bit jobs. They were fitting into a slot for a multinational company which wanted to take a modular approach to industry and research and development. These people were usually over-skilled for the jobs they were doing and, while they welcomed being able to work, earn money and invest at home, it drove others away because they were not able to get the right job in order to set up a home base and earn what they felt was their worth.
The next generation has now come on and, up to recently, people have expected to earn huge sums in software development, for example. They can click their fingers and name their salary, perhaps saying they have received a better offer from a Canadian company, and such salaries rose rapidly. Now that the economy is a bit more tetchy, people can no longer command these salaries. It is a welcome lesson that such people cannot get what they want, because a certain generation grew up thinking this is how it is, whereas some of us have had to go through life the hard way. A little hardship is good for everyone, but we do not want to see this well-educated generation leaving the country and staying away. We do not want Deputy Brian Lenihan following in his late father's footsteps by saying that this island is too small for all of us. Nonetheless, it will go that way unless we are able to offer a true scientific community.
I recently joined Science Foundation Ireland's friends of science group and I have one of its glossy brochures with me. I have met Mr. Harris, who is doing a good job. I do not want to denigrate any of the individuals involved in Science Foundation Ireland. They are doing a good job, even though the foundation has not yet been established on a statutory basis. Clearly, more needs to be done outside the scope of this Bill for it to work and the Green Party cannot have confidence in the Bill in the absence of those other measures.
An interesting magazine cutting was included with Science Foundation Ireland's brochure, the headline of which reads: "Ireland's new NSF-inspired funding agency has more money than scientists had dared hope for." In one sense that is welcome, because science has not received money in the past. However, while some of the new measures are welcome, unless we encourage people to study science subjects at secondary and third level and remain in the country, we will have a problem. This goes back to what the Minister said about Ireland being a value-added economy. If one wants to add value, there is no point in totally kowtowing to the multinationals.
We may be engaged in setting up successful research departments in many of the colleges and integrating them with such companies but, in many cases, it suits the companies' own ends because they operate on a modular basis in that they want particular sections of projects to be executed in Ireland, in consultation – via modern telecommunications – with people based in Canada, the US and the Far East. In these cases, everyone is part of the team and the Irish contribution is essential. This keeps people in the country and contributes to our scientific community. However, in the long-term, we must facilitate indigenous research and development to a far greater extent for any decline in the economy. There is talk of a recovery and I heard a journalist talk about a recovery in 2008 because of the Olympic Games, which goes to prove that economics is a social science, based on social interaction. Therefore, there is no way of knowing what way the economy will go. If the Government said tomorrow that house prices were going to crash, and enough people believed it, house prices would crash. The trouble with economics is that it is not predictable. However, people's response to the economic cycle is predictable. If one is able to respond positively to a cycle when times are bad, the impact will be minimised and, when things are good, one will reap the rewards.
My colleague, Deputy Eamon Ryan, whose brief covers this Bill, and I are not confident enough is being done to invest in science in order to ensure we reap the rewards. As I said earlier, the Bill has a narrow focus of ICT and biotechnology. Comments are frequently made about Green Party members being Luddites and that we wish to return to the year dot and start from scratch. It is interesting, therefore, that Green parties throughout the world, including ourselves, are to the fore in promoting scientific research. We are trying to make it ethical and environmentally sound and we have certain concerns in relation to biotechnology and genetic engineering but, on the whole, being environmentally-conscious and a friend of science goes hand in hand.
There are many things which science can offer which can also help society. I do not want to refer to too many clichés, but one must examine the potential of wave and wind power off our coast. Studies have already been carried out off the coast of Scotland which indicate that four times as much energy as is required by the UK can be produced purely through wave power. I have no doubt that the same is true of the west coast of Ireland and I do not see why the Government does not increase its investment ten-fold in this area. As we have seen before with oil exploration, the Government has a carrot and stick approach to these companies. They will not drill if the penalties are too great and the Exchequer will not earn much if they strike black gold. The same applies to gas, although to a lesser extent.
If we invest in research and development, we have the potential to play a leading role in terms of the development of wave technology. We could be an energy exporter in that field. However, the question is whether or not the Government will invest significant funding in that area. I think not. I do not think the commitment is there, because that would be too visionary. So far, the policy seems to have been to get jobs from the multinationals, but create the Irish jobs through sub-contractors – let the suppliers to the multinationals be the indigenous job creators rather than the Irish innovators.
Perhaps it is a social issue, maybe we still have an inferiority complex. When Bob Geldof was trying to set up his own business in the 1970s, he was asked by Conor Cruise O'Brien, "Is that it?", and told he had not a chance in hell because it would take too long. Bob Geldof went off to Canada, did some work and then came back and tried a totally different tack. We know he made it and we recognise the contribution he has made.
Following recent economic success, we should have the confidence to go past that and take risks. The Government should invest in risk because it is the basis of entrepreneurial activity, the safe option will get us nowhere. By investing in wave technology or rape seed oil, we could be self sufficient in our energy requirements – such scientific research is desperately needed. We could become a leading player in technology that would be home-grown in conjunction with the universities and those who are willing to establish colleges.
I know of one person who wants to set up an IT college in west Clare. Such people are looking for funding but do not always get it. We have, however, the likes of Media Lab, which is attracting a lot of foreign scientific knowledge but is not necessarily investing in our best and brightest. When Deputy Gormley was Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1994, instead of using the normal Volvo, he used a Volkswagen Golf that ran on home-grown material. If enough money was put into research in that area, it could be an economically viable material.
As Green Party education spokesperson, I am concerned about science in schools. People from the STEPS programme that attempts to involved people in engineering have made representations to the Joint Committee on Education and Science. They are doing a good job but unless there is investment to ensure every primary and secondary school has sufficient IT equipment and that every second level school has proper science laboratories, engineering will not come to the fore. People will not study science if it is seen as a difficult subject or if they cannot do it properly. That is part of the problem.
The investment needed to make Science Foundation Ireland a legal entity should be matched by proper investment in science in education because, as I said to the Minister for Education and Science, in relation to science, it is crucial.
A number of IT pilot projects were set up at primary level, including Wired for Learning, which involved piggy-backing on the IT expertise of American companies and putting something totally unsuitable to Irish culture into schools. In feedback, the schools said they were happy to get the computer equipment and adapted it to their needs because there was a shortage of equipment but that did not mean that Wired for Learning worked.
We should take the long-term approach when it comes to the development of science and invest at the front end of the cycle, even if money has to be removed from the special savings investment accounts, borrowed or, having chloroformed the Minister for Finance until after the budget, raised through increased taxation for higher earners. The money must be provided and spent now so the rewards can be reaped.
In the next economic cycle we will need a knowledge-based economy but it is not good enough to have a knowledge base that feeds into a module of a foreign company because eventually that knowledge base will exist in eastern Europe and Asia and the same thing that happened to our manufacturing will happen again. The only way to do this is for us to take control of our own destiny and invest in our own knowledge base alongside the excellent work being done with multinational companies.
While welcoming many aspects of Science Foundation Ireland, it is not enough. More needs to be done in indigenous research and development in forms of technology other than ICT and biotechnology and investment must be made at the primary and secondary levels.
