INDUSTRY: The future of 20,000 jobs in the medical devices and diagnostics industry depends on a much-increased emphasis on research and development (R&D) to develop new high-value products, the Irish Medical Devices Association (IMDA) warned yesterday.

It said the industry was at a crossroads and would no longer be able to sustain competitive advantage based on only the low-cost environment of the past as Irish wage costs rise. "Ireland's current success in this sector is no guarantee of future success," it said.

"The industry in Ireland recognises that, to remain viable in the long run, it must innovate and move up the value chain and so has expanded its research and development infrastructure, employing more highly skilled personnel in the process. The objective is to reposition the industry towards high-margin products; innovation and entrepreneurship in research and development are essential to this process."

Around 600 people were employed in R&D in the sector in 2001, up 20 per cent on 2000, while expenditure on R&D was €50 million, a 34 per cent rise on 2000. "There is strong demand for graduate researchers, with a 20 per cent increase in numbers projected by end-2003," the association said.

"The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs has established that the demand for graduate researchers cannot be met by the current flow of research graduates. To ensure that the industry has an adequate supply of research graduates, the decreasing interest in studying science should be addressed through implementation by Government of the recommendations of the Task Force on Physical Sciences, which seek to foster an interest in the physical sciences at second and third level," it said.