Science research funds will be increased: Harney

The Tánaiste, Mary Harney, has said funding for scientific research will be increased in next week's Book of Estimates.

Speaking at the launch of Science Week which starts this weekend, the Tánaiste said the allocation to Science Foundation Ireland, which funds basic research projects, will be raised.

Earlier today Professor Thomas Mitchell, chairman of the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology, told a symposium in Dublin that the Ireland of 2010 will require "many more" researchers than the country is currently producing.

Estimates indicate that there will be a requirement for 7,000 more researchers with post-graduate degrees in science and technology than the country can produce within that time.