Four Seasons Hotel, 9 November 2004 at 12:45

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, may I say how very pleased I am to have the opportunity to be here with you this evening, and in particular to welcome the delegates from the US.

I think that this is an excellent opportunity for the Irish Government to thank you for coming and to celebrate what has become a significant and valued partnership between the Irish and the US Life Sciences industries.

Ireland has one of the fastest growing economies in the world and this performance is driven by our ability to meet the requirements of international customers. Over the last ten years, we have averaged annual rates of export growth of around 9%, the highest in the EU & OECD. In the same period, Irish export growth outpaced world trade growth by a rate of three to one. For the second consecutive year, the A.T. Kearney Globalisation Index has named Ireland as the world's most globalised country.

Our success has been due to many factors, including our education system, a business-friendly regulatory environment and sensible fiscal policies. All of this helped us to attract very significant investment from around the world, but in particular from the US. Many of the largest multi-national companies in the life sciences sector have significant operations here - Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, Wyeth, Schering Plough, Bristol Myers Squib and Genzyme, for instance.

Largely as a result of this investment, Ireland is now one of the world's largest exporters of pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

In building our economic success, we have benefited greatly from scientific research and development over the years. Unfortunately, little of this R&D was done in Ireland. The result was that many - perhaps most - of our best scientists were forced abroad in order to reach their full potential. Indeed, a number of those here this evening fall into that category.

From a position where we have benefited from the R&D done by others, we are now moving into developing our own significant R&D capacity.

Our National Development Plan has committed to the spending of €2.5 billion (around US$2.85 billion) on innovation and technology investment, with the objective of developing a strong research base in Ireland, through our universities and other third-level institutions.

The Government also set up Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), which in less than four years has provided over €338 million in research support to 150 outstanding researchers and their teams in the ICT and life sciences sectors. Other Government initiatives have funded 97,000 square metres of new research space, including library space, and are supporting over 1,600 researchers.

Our aim is to establish world class Irish research programmes in niche areas of two of the most important growth sciences, information and communications technologies and biotechnology, and to those working at the interface between the two disciplines, in areas such as bioinformatics and nanobiotechnology. The aim of SFI is to help build in Ireland research of globally recognised excellence and nationally significant economic importance through strategic investments in the people, ideas and partnerships essential to outstanding research in strategic areas.

Dedicated research centres, such as at the National Probiotics Centre in University College Cork and the National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science at Galway University, are all designed to raise the research base in Ireland to new levels of internationally recognised excellence.

In short, we have put in place structures and procedures for science and technology to assist in identifying priorities, devising a long-term strategy and facilitating the planning of science and technology expenditure. This significant investment by the State in science and technology is intended to create a vibrant and well-supported research community, giving a substantial resource for technology solutions and the basis for a stream of technology-based start-ups.

We recognise the importance of the Life Sciences sector to the Irish economy, not only in terms of employment and the economic contribution generated by overseas investment in the sector, but also as a sector with tremendous potential for Irish-owned companies.

Although the indigenous Irish biotechnology sector is at an early stage of development it has considerable promise.

Enterprise Ireland's biotechnology strategy, Building Biotech Businesses has set as its key objective an increase in the number of new commercially focused biotechnology companies in Ireland, and targeting overseas biotechnology entrepreneurs and early-stage companies with potential to establish in Ireland.

I mentioned earlier that many of our best scientists had been obliged to move abroad because of the lack of research opportunities in Ireland. We hope that we are creating the conditions now that will retain our scientists and attract home some of those who have left. However, we also hope to be able to keep up our links with our scientific diaspora, to coin a phrase, and to this end, in 2002, Enterprise Ireland's New York office launched a drive to establish a network of Irish scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and researchers who are currently working in biotechnology in the United States. This has resulted in the formation of the BioLink USA-Ireland Organisation. The members of this Network are a tremendous resource to Ireland.

Their potential to contribute to the development of biotechnology here is taking many forms - by acting as market contacts for Irish biotechnology companies, as participants in collaborative research programmes, as new company start-up entrepreneurs and by acting as business advisors or project assessors, as well as many other ways.

We have formed a similar network in the UK, called Techlink UK, and I was fortunate to have been able to address its inaugural conference in London only last week. 

As you know, this is the first Inward BioPharma Mission to Ireland and it is a key event for the Irish LifeSciences sector. We believe that you can play a critical role in shaping the indigenous industry in Ireland through partnerships and advisory work. Many in the US are already influencing and supporting the growth of the Irish industry and their support and dedication cannot be overvalued.

I am confident that the business opportunities for both US and Irish Life Sciences companies will continue to emerge and provide economic and technological benefits for all concerned.

So, on that note I would like to wish you every success on your mission here to Ireland and I hope you all enjoy the rest of the evening.

ENDS/TC 122a