A forfas survey just released shows that more than £160 million was spent on research in the higher education sector (known as HERD) in l998. This compares with £121 million in l996 and £73 million in l992 and represents an annual growth rate of 12 percent since the latter year.

More than 90 percent of HERD funding went to the universities, and while research in the ITs doubled in value to £10.6m between l996 and l998, the sector still accounts for only 7 per cent of HERD funding.

Colm O'Regan, executive director of Forfas, says that while the growth was encouraging, the level in l998 was still below the EU average. The survey predates the Government's initiative to make over £500 million available for research over the next five years and shows that colleges were using all existing sources of funding to maximise their levels of research.