Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 March 2015
115. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked 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]
View answerThe 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.
