Sir, - Yes, Minister Rabbitte ("Giving science and technology a home", November 14th), we are out there trying our utmost to carry out scientific research in one of the most underfunded scientific communities in the developed world. While I welcome the Tierney Report, the White Paper on Science and the recent initiatives by the Minister in relation to funding in science, the reality of the situation is that funding of basic research is still at crisis level.
Pat Rabbitte and his adviser, Fergus O Raghallaigh (letter, November 6th) quote figures of around £800 million annually of public spending under the convenient umbrella of science and technology. However the real spending of Irish taxpayers' money on science is probably less than one per cent of thin figure, with an even smaller fraction allocated to basic scientific research.
Amongst the new initiatives introduced this year was an increase in the Forbairt postgraduate student awards from £1,000 to £2,000 a year. The funding, which is considerably less than unemployment benefit, is clearly inadequate even to cover basic living costs. It does not include any provision for laboratory reagents or equipment, which can amount to more than £10,000 a year for each researcher in the biological sciences.
Although both Forbairt and the Health Research Board provide invaluable basic research awards and a small number of post doctoral fellowships on very limited budgets, in most eases these have to be supplemented by large grants from EU programmes and UK charities, such as the Wellcome Trust. In my own case, I run an immunology research group in a university department where more than 90 per cent of my funding comes from outside the country. The taxes on the spending of this funding more than equals the input from Irish sources. At the same time, I provide employment and training for 11 scientists and subsidise the costs of education.
Pat Rabbitte asks: "Do we get value for money?" and "what is the return to the economy?" from this much bandied figure of £800 million. The funding of postgraduate studentship for £10,000 a year from the Health Research Board, or as little as £2,000 from Forbairt, has to be one of the most cost effective means of job creation.
Furthermore, a solid foundation in basic research is essential, not only to provide expertise to deal with problems of national importance, such as those raised by recent threats to public health, but for the creativity and skills required to carry out the applied research. To quote Feargus O Raghallaigh, "technology is the appliance of science", but if we do not fund science, we will have nothing to apply. - Yours, etc.,
Biology Department,
St Patrick's College,
Maynooth.