Research and innovation are essential for the Republic's economic development and the Government will continue to view scientific research here as a long-term goal, according to the Taoiseach. The State would remain an "active partner" in this development.
Mr Ahern's comments came yesterday at the conclusion of a two-hour "science summit" organised by one of the State's key research funders, Science Foundation Ireland (SFI). Importantly, the event involved the participation of the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, who addressed the 300 or so scientists attending the meeting in Dublin Castle and who both remained until its end.
"Research and technological development and innovation are essential to our competitiveness and future economic development," Mr Ahern said.
He said he accepted that a long-term view of research funding was necessary, adding, "the short-term option is not what we should be doing". He was "heartened" listening to the scientists describing their research, and hearing how State support for their work was having a real impact.
"The future for scientific research is obvious. We are making a step on the international stage," he said.
Continued success would depend on a partnership involving Government, university researchers and companies working together, he added. "I want to assure you that the Government will be an active partner in that."
Speaking earlier, Ms Harney said that the research advances being made under the State's funding programmes, including SFI, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and others, could not have been made 10 years ago, or even five. The scientists would have been working on the west coast of the US because the labs, equipment and research supports simply weren't in place here at that time.
The new research programmes funded under the National Development Plan had "generated the resources to bring back Irish researchers from abroad" and convinced scientists from other countries to move here. "We've still an awful long way to go, but we've certainly made a great start," Ms Harney told the meeting.
"We need to maintain the funding for SFI and indeed PRTLI [the HEA's funding programme]," she added. "This is a marathon, not a sprint."
The conduct of the "summit" was somewhat unusual in that the proceedings involved a series of short presentations by senior scientists funded under SFI, but addressed directly to Mr Ahern.
The Tánaiste, in her introduction, said she wanted the Taoiseach to hear for himself what was being achieved.
There were also presentations from companies including Intel, which has invested €7.5 billion in its microchip manufacturing plants in Leixlip, Co Kildare, and Wyeth BioPharma, which has so far spent about €2 billion on its new biotech plant in Clondalkin, Dublin.
The meeting also heard from Sir John Cadogan, former director general of the UK's research councils and who advised on the establishment of SFI.
He warned that the most important thing was to convince research scientists that the funding and SFI were "here to stay".
