In his address at the recent Third International Conference on Services and Innovation, the Minister for Finance said that funding will allow Ireland to continue building its research and innovation base and ensure that Ireland continues to have the capacity to attract foreign direct investment and improve competitiveness through innovation.

This statement from the Minister on R&D is to be welcomed in light of the recent EU and OECD studies on R&D, which suggested that Ireland needs to develop its R&D policy to compete on the world stage.

A copy of the Minister's speech is available at http://www.finance.gov.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=5065.