Group to launch science initiative

The Minister of State with responsibility for science has reaffirmed his commitment to create a pool of additional funding from Exchequer resources to support research activities.

And in a separate development, an expert group which advises the Government on science policy is to launch an initiative that will help map out Ireland's scientific and technological future.

The Irish Council for Science, Technology and Innovation decided at a plenary session yesterday to organise a "Technology Foresight Exercise". It should develop a national consensus between Government, industry and third-level colleges on the direction of Ireland's technological future, according to the council chairman, Dr Edward Walsh.

The Minister of State for Science, Technology and Commerce, Mr Noel Treacy, yesterday renewed his commitment to create an "innovation funding pool".

This source of extra research funding was proposed by his predecessor, Mr Michael Smith, now Minister for Defence.

It involved identifying savings which could be made by Government departments with a science budget and then doubling the resultant savings with support from the Exchequer.

Mr Treacy said yesterday he was "committed to achieving" the creation of the fund. "The negotiations to create it are continuing." The fund would not feature in the departmental estimates which will be published by Government today, he added.

Dr Walsh said the foresight exercise was "not simply a matter of looking at science and technology in isolation". It involved looking at the future direction of Ireland as a society.

"It will attempt to predict where Ireland is going and to establish where science and technology fits into that overall plan," he said. It was a "complex process" that sought to create a national consensus, and would include a "checklist of actions" that could help Ireland achieve this.

Other countries, such as New Zealand, were already involved in this kind of exercise, Dr Walsh said.

He described the Government's £250 million investment in science education as "historic". It represented a "wonderful commitment" by Government to the advancement of science and research.

"It shows that the Government is clearly aware that Ireland's future depends on its scientific and technological development." The fund was designed to help people to better understand the importance of science, he said.