Significant market opportunities will emerge for Irish enterprises proactively operating on ecological and environmental principles, delegates at the sixth Forfas annual innovation conference were told.

"All future technological development will have to contribute to the critical societal requirement of achieving greater competitive and environmental sustainability," Mr Peter Cassells, chairman of Forfas told delegates.

Technologies that actively contributed to that objective would confer an advantage on the developers, he said.

"Forfas considers it a matter of some importance that the current low level of `ownership' of environmental concern by Irish enterprises has resulted in products and services that are not necessarily future-proof against a sudden shift in market sentiment, based on broad environmental considerations," said Mr Cassells.

Irish industry would have to become greener and more efficient, said Mr Philip Ryan, deputy director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland. "Environmental audits should do for production management what a financial audit does for finances," said Mr Ryan.

"There is an economic benefit as well as an environmental benefit," he said.

Sustainable development could not be achieved by tinkering around the margins, said Mr Eamonn Reay, business development director of Multis, a company which re-manufactures retired, returning and excess computer systems for the second-use market.

"We need a long-term strategic plan which will identify the desired state, a concerted action plan and timetable to achieve," said Mr Reay.