Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 May 2013
134. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will support the I-LOFAR Project that promotes science, education, rural development and tourism, and innovation and university links (details supplied). [24572/13]
View answerLOFAR is a €150m network of radio telescopes that is currently being deployed across northern Europe. The project is predominantly in the field of astrophysics and it will enable scientists to study the early universe, discover new planets and monitor the Sun’s effect on the Earth.
LOFAR is expected to give new views of the Universe and inspire young scientists and engineers. The proposers indicate that the impact of LOFAR on a wide range of astrophysical topics will be immense – revolutionising the study of transient stars and galaxies; enabling the first studies into the early universe after the Big Bang; completing the most extensive surveys of galaxies at low frequencies; and providing a new insight into the Sun-Earth connection. LOFAR will have applications in geophysics, meteorology, and agriculture.
I-LOFAR is the proposal, entitled Irish Low Frequency Array, to build a cutting-edge radiotelescope at Birr Castle Demesne, County Offaly, thereby allowing Ireland to join the International LOFAR network. Indicative overall costs for the project here are thought to be in excess of €2m and there would also be ongoing associated annual maintenance costs. The I-LOFAR project proposal is being led by Dr. Peter Gallagher, a solar physicist at the School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin. A proposal was submitted by Trinity College Dublin in relation to the I-LOFAR project under the SFI Infrastructure 2012 call but the proposal did not attain a sufficiently high ranking in the review process to warrant funding in that particular competition. This does not preclude any new bids being made by Trinity College or other colleges for the I-LOFAR project under any future Exchequer-supported competitive research calls.
The recognition that a country of Ireland’s size can only excel in a focused number of fields of research is increasingly acknowledged. The Report of the Research Prioritisation Steering Group, formally adopted by Government in 2012, aims to accelerate the delivery of economic outcomes from Government investment in public research organisations by aligning future competitive public investment by research funders to 14 opportunity areas. Astrophysics is not one of the designated 14 priority areas, although it is accepted to be of some relevance to the information and communications technologies fields.
To realise the full impact of our research investment, detailed action plans have been developed for each of the 14 priority areas. The action plans, now being implemented, focus on ensuring that there is coherence in the approach to funding in these areas amongst funding agencies, that the research base is aligned with enterprise needs, including development of appropriate skills and that the wider ecosystem for innovation is supportive. The action plans are live documents that will continuously evolve so that they remain current and ensure a dynamic, responsive environment for innovation and technology development. The report calls for ongoing review of priority areas on a regular basis to ensure their continued relevance and to also ensure that new opportunities are identified. As well as aligning funding to the 14 areas, the actions identify wider ecosystem or framework conditions that need to be addressed to allow investment in the Priority Area to yield the optimum return.
