Research and development tops agenda in €300m spend

ENTERPRISE Minister Micheál Martin has said the creation of new centres of excellence will form the core part of the Government’s commitment to spend €300 million in supporting research and development during 2007.

In the full first year of the €3.8 billion Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation, the minister will soon announce the location of a new centre of excellence in systems biology.

The department’s advisers have identified systems biology as a field where Ireland can play a leading part in R&D.