IBEC calls for R&D shake-up to protect jobs

TOP employer body IBEC has called for a major shake-up in the approach to research and development to sustain the next generation of investment and to secure the 100,000 jobs in the sector.

The call has come from the information and technology division within IBEC ICT Ireland.

It has demanded a three-pronged attack to protect the jobs in the sector that generated 31 billion in exports last year and accounts for 16% of GDP.

To ensure its future, the leading high technology group has called for:

The introduction of a 35% tax credit for qualifying R&D activities undertaken in Ireland.

Development of a National Policy on Research and Development through a national coordinating policy body by focussing on specific areas of expertise.

To stop the decline in competitiveness effective measures need to be put in place to improve the national Research and Development infrastructure.

ICT Ireland vice-chairman Eoin O'Driscoll said the economy was at a crossroads and it wanted to highlight the importance and critical role it has to play in the Irish economy.

He said it is imperative the action called for by the group is implemented even if the Government is facing tight budgetary constraints in the years ahead. The pay back would be significantly higher than the cost of the investment, he said.

Several representatives of the sector and the academic world were present at the launch of the ICT Ireland report published yesterday R&D: Securing the future of ICT in Ireland.

Mr O'Driscoll said the sector wasn't looking for major capital investment from the State as such.

It did warn, however, that R&D in Ireland relative to other countries was abysmal.

That poor performance was reflected in the low level of patents being registered by Irish people in recent years.

Those points were raised by Professor Michael Porter of Harvard when he addressed the MBA annual conference two years ago and are still issues to be resolved, said ICT Ireland.

It said it is imperative that tax breaks be given directly to companies in Ireland whether they are local or multinational in order to encourage a significant uptake in the critical area of R&D.

A spokesman for Microsoft at the news conference said the difficulty is that while Ireland is highly regarded for many things it is not seen as a hotbed of R&D.

If something isn't done in the immediate future to correct that anomaly Ireland will definitely lose out in the next phase of foreign direct investment to other competitors such as India and China who are garnering a reputation in that regard, ICT Ireland warned.

"It is vitally important that we maintain and increase investments and incentives in this sector to position Ireland for the eventual upturn," said Mr O'Driscoll.