Science advisor to be asked to prove PhD

GOVERNMENT chief science advisor Dr Barry McSweeney will this week face further questions over a dubious PhD he received from a discredited university in the US.

With his job on the line, Dr McSweeney has so far failed to respond to calls for an explanation of a 1992 PhD he received from California-based Pacific Western University (PWU) an institution found to be little more than a one-room operation offering degrees over the internet for a flat fee.

Government inquiries, initiated by Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin, have already established that PWU "did not have accrediting powers within the US."

Dr McSweeney has told Minister Martin that PWU was "vastly different" when he received his doctorate, but the claim has been discredited by a string of US academics and an FBI credentials consultant.

Minister Martin has asked for further clarification and is expected to ask for proof of the degree's authenticity when the pair meet later this week.

Appointed by then Enterprise Minister Mary Harney in June 2004, Dr McSweeney has since represented Ireland at numerous international engagements in the European Parliament, and in Japan and India.

Last November, he was presented with a special Alumni Achievement Award from University College Cork where he studied for two degrees, a BSc and an MSc.

As part of his remit, Dr McSweeney is responsible for advising the Government on the more than €2.4 billion due to be spent on science and technology under the National Development Plan.

The brief involves considerable influence and prominence, not just at home, but on a world-wide scale.

Late last year, Dr McSweeney, in his capacity as Government chief science advisor, was a prominent speaker at a scientific forum in Japan which was attended by 90 government ministers, 15 recent Nobel laureates and the heads of Intel, Microsoft and Pfizer.

He chairs a Government review group established by the Department of Health to examine the use of iodine tablets in the National Emergency Plan for Nuclear Accidents.

Dr McSweeney is also in the process of formulating policy advice to the Government on the controversial issue of stem cell research.

While Labour MEP Proinsias De Rossa has formally asked the EU Commission whether the scientist used the PhD to apply for two previous senior EU jobs, Green Party Leader Trevor Sargent called for an independent Government body to be set up to provide a "rigorous and transparent assessment of qualifications before such appointments are made."