Speech by Minister Ahern at the Launch of the “DRIVE for Growth Conference”

27^th February 2008

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to be here in Killarney this morning to open this prestigious Conference. I would like to thank both the South West and South East Regional Authorities for their work in organising this event. They are an excellent example of neighbouring regions working together in Ireland to provide support for indigenous economic development and developing greater industry/academia collaboration.

A particular word of thanks should also go to John McAleer, Director, and Councillor John Mulvihill, Cathaoirleach, of the South West Regional Authority and Mr. Tom Byrne, Director of the Southern and Eastern Regional Authority for their vision in facilitating this conference.

The DRIVE initiative is very significant in terms of bringing to the fore, at a regional and European stage, the importance of knowledge transfer and collaborative partnerships between small companies and Higher Education Institutes.

I know that today’s Conference represents the final event in the project which has been running for the last two years in the South West and South East of Ireland, the West Midlands in the UK and in Stuttgart in Germany.

At this juncture I would like to welcome our DRIVE partners who are with us here today – our partners from Coppingen in Stuttgart, Germany; and also our UK partners in attendance from Staffordshire and Keele Universities and from Stoke on Trent City Council.

I would also like to extend a warm welcome to all the contributors to, and participants in today’s Conference - and especially to those who have travelled from abroad to be with us this morning in the Malton Hotel. We need to foster greater synergies between enterprise and education, between research and development, between public and private investment - a cooperation that is very evident here today.

The Irish Government’s Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation (SSTI) 2006 – 2013 was launched as a whole of government approach in June 2006.

The SSTI, which constitutes one of the principal pillars of Ireland’s National Development Plan 2007 to 2013 (NDP), strives towards a vision of an Ireland in 2013 being internationally renowned for the excellence of its research and at the forefront in generating and using new knowledge for economic and social progress, within an innovation driven culture. We know that in the highly competitive and rapidly changing global markets now evolving success goes to those who read and react to new trends first.

The SSTI aims to have Ireland move forward to secure its position as one of the world’s advanced knowledge economies and become renowned worldwide for the excellence of its research. It will facilitate the continuing transition to a strong knowledge intensive economy and will lay a strong foundation from which future economic growth can develop. It is putting the benefits and opportunities of science, technology and innovation at the heart of Irish economic and social development, to grow our enterprise sector in a sustainable manner and facilitate social advancement.

The 2008 Budget reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to the investment targets of the NDP sub-programmes, with significant budgetary increases in line with the projections of the NDP. The Government’s objective is to translate the NDP investment in this area into a tangible return in terms of quality jobs, knowledge output and Irish competitiveness.

Already, it can be seen that the massive and sustained investment in human capital, physical infrastructure and commercialisation of research is beginning to bear fruit.

One of the principal international R&D indicators, Gross Expenditure on Research and Development, or GERD, show that strong progress continues to be made in improving Ireland’s performance in the knowledge economy.

Between 2000 and 2006 Ireland’s annual GERD almost doubled, from a level of €1.17 billion to €2.33 billion in constant prices.

Business Expenditure on Research and Development, BERD, also grew. Between 2001 and 2006, BERD in constant prices rose from €1.06 billion to €1.56 billion, rising to 1.05% of GNP.

However, lest we become complacent our Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation sets an ambitious target for BERD of €2.5 billion by 2013. This represents a real challenge and one that we can all contribute to meeting.

This is a challenging goal, but attainable, based on the growth in the level of Research and Development to date and predicated on the sustained investment set out in the NDP.

In this context, one of the Departments under my remit as Minister for Innovation Policy - the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment recently submitted to Government an Innovation Policy statement entitled “Innovation in Ireland”. This Statement identifies 10 key policy areas which underpin the Government’s approach to innovation in support of the knowledge economy and enterprise. Arrangements are nearing completion with regard to the formal announcement of the Innovation Policy Statement which I anticipate will be in the coming weeks.

Let me tell you briefly the purpose of this Innovation Policy Statement.

Firstly, it maps out the various supports that exist for innovation across the relevant Irish Government Departments;

Secondly, the Policy statement highlights specific areas where we believe innovation can be better exploited; and

Thirdly, the statement identifies future innovation support arrangements in Ireland.

I believe that the Statement will also strive to create a greater awareness of, and demand for, innovation throughout the economy. It will also guide our approach to fostering innovation demand and an innovation culture in the economy and in society.

To achieve such ambitious goals, we must continue to refine our policies and supports. In this light, recently in January of this year, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment through 2 of it’s enterprise agencies launched a revised and simplified Research and Development Grant Scheme which will make €500m available to companies across all sectors.

The scheme will see job creation agencies, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, invest very significantly in industry based R&D and continue to secure jobs in all parts of the country. The revised Scheme has simplified the process of securing support in line with Government policy to cut red tape for business, and has been streamlined to make the application process as straightforward as possible for companies.

Company-to-company collaborations, and partnerships between our third level institutions and companies are at the core of this scheme. Projects already underway are researching how to combat disease, improve communication technology and develop products of the future.

This approach to producing high-quality R&D should ensure that Ireland remains a base for high-tech quality jobs in the years ahead and encourages R&D collaboration between companies, particularly amongst small businesses.

Driving stronger growth in an ever more competitive and interconnected world will require creativity and imagination. Innovation is more than just engaging in R&D activities – though R&D is obviously extremely important part of the Innovation process.

A focus on innovation in its broadest sense in the context of the entire business process is needed. Creative ideas, new and better ways of working, innovative products and services, improved ways of marketing and delivering goods to the world will be the drivers of future success – and today’s conference represents an important part of this process.

In finishing I would like to wish you all a productive and enjoyable time here today. I am sure you will find it a very informative time.

I would like to wish you all the very best with your future endeavours.

Thank you.

ENDS/IP32