The Government needs to allocate £500 million (€634.86 million) over the next five years to ensure Ireland gains a competitive edge in the areas of science, technology and innovation.

The funding would be mainly used to overhaul the science curricula in schools from primary level up, and to develop national centres of expertise for biotechnology and information technology.

These are the recommendations of a Technology Foresight report compiled by a special taskforce for the Irish Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (ICSTI). The report will be submitted today to the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr Treacy, and is expected to go to cabinet shortly.

The Irish Times has learned that falling numbers taking physics and chemistry at second level is identified in the report as the biggest long-term threat to Ireland's ability to develop as a "knowledge-based" society. The report also calls for the establishment of a critical mass of "world class" research, which would be attractive to international professional researchers. The report recommends the provision of necessary financial rewards, equipment and support staff to attain this goal.

The relevant areas for further research could be identified by a consortium of industry and higher education. The report recommends the establishment of a Centre for Advanced Informatics, and extension of the existing strengths of the National Microelectronics Research Centre in Cork.

It also suggests more aggressive venture capital schemes to drive the rate of growth in Irish companies at the same pace as international industry leaders. The involvement of Irish people working overseas, particularly in the US, is also identified as key to developing an information and communications technologies innovation structure.

The lynchpin to overhauling science education would be the establishment of a "Specialised Centre for the Teaching of Science" which would support the teaching of science at secondary level, and explore how best to interest students in science subjects.

Mr Paul Holden, managing director of Redacteurs, and chairman of the Information and Communication Technologies Foresight Panel, says: "We found decreasing numbers of students are interested in creating technology, though increasing numbers are quite happy to use it. The problem goes right back to primary school level, and it is not simple to address. The wrong intervention can be made through boring or poor curriculum design, which has a very detrimental effect."

At primary level the report recommends more groundwork be laid in developing mathematical and problem-solving skills, while greater research capacity was recommended at third level.

Established one year ago, the taskforce based its findings in consultation with industry, education and government and attempted to determine the Republic's science and technology requirements likely to yield greatest benefit 17 years from now.