Address by Mr Noel Treacy T.D. Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce at the Annual General Meeting of the Industry Research and Development Group on Tuesday 21 September, 1999 in the Plaza Hotel, Tallaght Town Centre

It is again a great pleasure for me to be present here at the Annual General Meeting of the Industry Research and Development Group. I attended last year’s event and some of you may recall that due to time commitments on the day I was unable to stay to meet the members. I am delighted tonight to be in a position to remain with you all, following my address to you.

Last year we spoke about our initial thinking on Post 1999 Funding for Research, Technology and Innovation or RTI. I know that at today’s seminar, Mr. Mattie McCabe from our Office of Science & Technology and Mr Jim Cuddy from Enterprise Ireland have also been discussing Post 1999 thinking at length with your members.

Since last year, there have been a number of important developments in relation to RTI generally. Firstly, the very successful In-Company RTI Scheme which was re-launched in November of 1997 and which had its first Calls at the beginning of 1998, continued throughout the year. As part of the review of schemes carried out by the Industry Monitoring Committee which has responsibility for overseeing the funding of all of the Programmes and Measures in the Industry Operational Programme for 1994-1999, additional funding of £8.5m was provided for the RTI scheme. This brought total funding for the Scheme to £39m.

The demand for the Scheme has continued to outweigh available funding. To date, 403 companies have been approved funding of almost £39 million against a backdrop where a total of 572 companies sought grant support of £90 million.

What was supposed to be the last meeting of the RTI Committee took place in July when the remaining funds were committed. Expenditure on projects approved by the Committee must be incurred by the 30th September 2000. I am requesting members of the IRDG here tonight to urge their companies to submit their claims for payment now.

I cannot stress enough to you how important it is that the money allocated to the Scheme is drawn down quickly. We have to date, paid out some £86m from a total allocation of £142m for the old Measure 6 and current RTI Schemes. There is a one - year eligible expenditure period left in the life of these Schemes and the Agencies tell me that to date the annualised payments to companies have been running at just £23 million.

You will see therefore, there is a substantial amount of money outstanding to be claimed by companies between now and the last quarter of next year. This will not be an easy task and I believe it is absolutely critical that everybody involved in this Scheme - companies, the Agencies and our Department - play their part in ensuring the money is drawn down. But let me re-iterate, if companies do not submit their claims, then clearly neither the Agencies nor our Department have anything to process or pay. I again therefore, urge all companies to submit their claims now.

I understand that a number of projects will not now be completed for varying reasons. This often happens with risky R&D projects. This has enabled us to hold a Special “once off” Call for Proposals which was advertised in the media during August and which has a closing date of Thursday 30th September. I don’t know what the final figures will be but I understand that the level of demand is likely to be high.

It is very important that we do this in the context of our Post 1999 funding negotiations with the European Commission, so that we will be able to show Brussels that there is a continuing demand for this RTI Scheme.

On the Post 1999 front, one of the most important developments in the last year has been the ESRI Report on “Investment Priorities 2000-2006”. This Report puts RTI centre stage in relation to the competitiveness of Irish industry as we move into the new Millennium. The ESRI Report very much endorses our approach on Post 1999 Funding for RTI. As has been outlined to you during the day, there are three main strands to our Post 1999 funding for RTI. They are:-,P>(a) RTI for Industry, which is essentially a continuation of the current In-Company RTI Scheme (b) Collaboration. By this I mean collaboration between companies and between companies and the Third Level Sector and (c) RTI Infrastructure.

I have spoken earlier about RTI for Industry. On Collaboration, can I publicly complement IRDG for its work with the Conference of Heads of Irish Universities - CHIU in the publication entitled “Collaboration between Industry and Third Level Institutions” which I recently launched in the Department. This I believe is a very important and timely publication in that it brings two sides of the National System of Innovation namely industry and academia together. Collaboration is a very strong feature in the EU Commission’s thinking and consequently will be a major feature of the next round of Structural Funds.

In relation to Infrastructure, the major development in the past twelve months has been the publication of the Technology Foresight Report. I requested the Irish Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (ICSTI) to carry out this major task in February 1998 and the work was completed in a little over a year. I know that industry was very heavily involved in the 8 sectoral Panels. Our Office of Science & Technology has been working with Enterprise Ireland, the IDA, the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Education and Science with a view to working out the most appropriate structures which need to be put in place to implement the main recommendation in Technology Foresight namely the establishment of a Technology Foresight Fund.

I am greatly encouraged by the interest in Technology Foresight by everyone involved in R&D/S&T activities including the IRDG. You have made a detailed submission to our Office of Science & Technology with a number of ideas.

The Taoiseach is personally interested in the implementation of Technology Foresight and is particularly conscious of its long term implications for further economic policy in Ireland. To that end, I will shortly be making a submission to Government on proposals which will dovetail with the finalisation of the National Development Plan to be published at the end of October.

All in all then, you will appreciate that we are at a very exciting time for Research, Technology and Innovation in Ireland. As I have said earlier, a number of developments in the past year or so have pushed RTI very much to the forefront of the economic agenda. I want to publicly thank Messrs. Dick Kavanagh, Tony Gannon and all of the members of the IRDG for their continuing inputs to this policy process.

I also want to take this opportunity to again thank the members of the IRDG who have worked very hard on the RTI Committee over the past 12 months. I know from both Feargal Uas O’Moráin and Mr. Michael Pender who are on the Committee that their inputs have been invaluable throughout the year. I recognise that you have a very busy business schedule and to give of your time to reading all the various proposals before the Committee is no easy task. The inputs and comments from people who are “at the coal face” in relation to performing R&D does make the task of identifying priority projects somewhat easier.

I want to close by wishing everybody in the IRDG continued success into the new Millennium. I know you had a very successful Annual General Meeting and Seminar here today. I look forward to working closely with IRDG and its members over the coming year through our Office of Science & Technology. On a personal level, I look forward to some very interesting informal discussions during the remainder of the evening.