Posted on behalf of Dick Ahlstrom.

Science will remain a core element of enterprise and research policy under the new Irish administration, according to the minister for enterprise. It will take on a more commercial edge however and will also have a stronger jobs element.

In his first substantial comment on science policy made since his appointment as minister last month, Richard Bruton acknowledged the importance of research but also emphasised the contribution it could make to small commercial enterprises and to job creation.

“We will be looking afresh at science strategy in the context of a jobs programme,” he said at a press event in Dublin on 6 April. He and his department had already begun a reform of the existing science agenda established by the previous government.

Research would remain central to this however. “Evolving a science strategy is core to the enterprise programme and will be central to those reviews that we are undertaking on policy,” he said.

The banking crisis in Ireland and the recession have combined to push unemployment into double figures. As a result the government will look for job creation to flow from any state expenditure, and investment in research is no exception.

“That would clearly be our priority in the short term but we recognise that that can’t be done without a very solid science base,” Bruton said.

Part of his overall approach will include reforming the system of tax credits that can be applied against company expenditure on research, which in its current form is viewed as too restrictive.

The existing system “was more aimed at the large companies”, he said. “Now we are saying small companies need to break into this space for the first time and we want to make it easier for them to do that.”

Image: Richard Bruton/Wikipedia