OPINION:THE COUNTRY is awash with experts at the moment. It makes you wonder what it takes to become an expert - what night course might be available to turn one into a pundit, writes DICK AHLSTROM

Experts play an important role because they amplify home truths by telling us things we already know. Think about it.

They enunciate something already known to be true. We immediately agree with them, why wouldn't we; they are repeating known truths. Success in winning public acceptance automatically bolsters the expert's status as a purveyor of wisdom and marks them out as someone who will be asked to comment again in the future. Back of the net.

Our economic woes have us knee-deep in economic experts and financial gurus who can tell us with sharp-edged clarity why we have financially gone to hell. So why didn't they warn us about it last year, seeing as they must have known all about it back then too?

Then there are the political experts who can tell you which parties are for the chop and who'll do well in the next election. It makes you wonder though: if they know so much, then how come they aren't in the bookies the night before an election backing a sure thing?

Being an expert means you are very good at something. It means you know so much about an issue that people ask you to comment on it - and might even pay you for the privilege. Being so good at something and knowing so much about it that you are permitted to pronounce on it is a nice place to be.

Our scientists are attempting to get into this space, to gain a world reputation for the quality of work that they do. They can't do it in isolation, however - they need buildings and labs where they can do the research that will make them experts in their field.

Science Foundation Ireland, the Higher Education Authority, the Health Research Board, the Research Councils, Teagasc, the Environmental Protection Agency and others have for the past number of years been doing just that, providing money and support to help our scientists to conduct world class research. Of course, nothing would be delivered without their own expertise and the contribution made by post-grads and post-docs who usually end up doing the donkey work.

We are six or seven years - and close to €2 billion - down this road, so what have we got to show for the investment? Have we achieved expert status for the research coming from our labs?

The answer is yes based on a range of metrics that allows Ireland to be measured against competitor countries, but these metrics also show that we still have a long way to go.

One of the crudest is the percentage of gross domestic product that's put back into the economy as research. We had been hovering at around 1.4 per cent for some time, but this has crept up in the last year or two to about 1.6 per cent. We remain below the EU average of 1.8 per cent, however, and well below leading countries such as Sweden, Finland and Japan.

Another measure is the number of Irish research papers reaching publication in peer-reviewed journals and the number of people making reference to them - the citation index. Our publication rate has gone up based on figures monitored by Science Foundation Ireland, and as a result, the citation rate. We now rank 17th in the world in terms of citation per publication, so clearly the research we are producing is being seen and noted abroad.

One could look at the rate at which patents are being applied for and granted as a measure of success. Also, there is the increasing number of foreign scientists who are willing to move to Ireland to take part in or lead research groups. The SFI programmes are internationalised to allow this to happen, and have brought leading scientists to our door. They wouldn't come if we didn't have something on the ball.

Another sign is the increasing number of collaborative EU research projects being led by teams based in Ireland. We used to be the junior partner in these collaborations, but now we are producing scientists who are selected to lead them.

So what are we good at? Have we got experts who can tell the world what's new in their areas of expertise?

A phone-around to a number of high level science sources suggests that, yes, we have achieved world-class standing in certain areas and certain labs. Crann, Trinity's nanotechnology centre, is an example, as is University College Cork's Tyndall National Institute, which specialises in novel materials research.

Trinity is doing world class research in immunology, and NUI Galway has a powerful photonics group. There are many more. All across our research community, the Government's sustained policy of funding science has helped creative and talented people to excel.

We are not experts in every area, but things are definitely getting better. Our level of achievement is only limited by our capacity to be creative and to innovate, and creativity was never in short supply on this island.