Ireland increases R&D spending

Brussels, 10 Jan 2005

Ireland has announced that government spending on science and research programmes will reach 230 million euro in 2005.

In a speech stressing the importance of innovation, Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin confirmed that an additional ten million euro would go to Science Foundation Ireland and Enterprise Ireland programmes.

'This brings total funding for these programmes this year to over 228 million euro,' Mr Martin said. 'Six million euro will be allocated for Enterprise Ireland industry-led initiatives to improve the capability of companies to undertake research and development [R&D] and also for a cluster approach to collaboration research among groups of companies in key technology platform areas,' he added.

Furthermore, assigning an additional one million euro to Enterprise Ireland's programme to accelerate the protection and exploitation of intellectual property has been proposed. Mr Martin explained that 'these initiatives are in line with the government's goal of increasing industry spend in R&D.'

Two million euro will also be allocated to Science Foundation Ireland's programme of Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSETS), which supports researchers who build collaborative efforts linking industry to educational institutes.

'A further one million euro will be allocated to the Women in Science and Engineering Initiative, which aims to promote the recruitment and retention of women in science, engineering and technology research careers through scholarships,' said the Irish Minister, who added that the growth of R&D capability would be a critical foundation of Ireland's competitive advantage in the future.

'As a Government, we have pro-actively assisted our high-tech sector to develop and grow,' concluded Mr Martin. 'Through Enterprise Ireland linking with third level institutes we aim to ensure that the maximum potential is derived from applied research - both in terms of new business establishment and technology transfer.'

For further information on R&D in Ireland, please visit:
http:///www.cordis.lu/ireland

CORDIS RTD-NEWS / © European Communities
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