STATE FUNDING for scientific research has held up well in spite of the recession, the head of Forfás has said.
Forfás, the policy advisory board for enterprise and science, has released the latest figures for State sector research funding, with detailed returns for 2009 and estimated figures for 2010.
These show a slow but steady decline in overall spending on scientific research from a peak in 2008.
Forfás puts the decline down to economic pressures rather than a change in Government science policy.
The fall in spending has also affected the number of PhD and non-PhD researchers working in the State sector, with the numbers employed also in decline.
State expenditure peaked in 2008 when €946 million was spent, according to the Forfás survey. This figure eased downwards to €941 million in 2009, and with an estimated spend in 2010 of €872 million. The figures were totalled in the 35 departments and agencies across the Government system.
The Higher Eduction Authority was responsible for disbursing just under one-third of this money, with IDA Ireland releasing 17.4 per cent and Science Foundation Ireland 17.2 per cent of the spend, the Forfás figures indicate.
The reduced spending has pushed Ireland down a league table of countries ranked according to the growth rate of research expenditure averaged out between the years 2005-2010.
We rank 13th of 16 countries selected for the Forfás analysis. Average growth was only 2.4 per cent here compared to 13.6 per cent for Luxembourg, 9.9 per cent for Portugal and 9.3 per cent for Korea in the top three positions.
We rank above Greece, Italy and France but below the US, UK, Finland, Iceland and the EU average of 4.1 per cent.
As funding has declined so too have the numbers employed in the conduct of science including PhD researchers, researchers without PhDs, technicians and other support staff. All four categories have seen declines, according to the report.
The current downturn follows a sustained heavy investment in research made by the State over the past decade, the chief executive of Forfás, Martin Shanahan, said yesterday.
Although acknowledging the recent reversal of this, the current investment “has broadly held up over the last two years despite significant economic challenges”, Mr Shanahan said.
This investment has also “proven successful”, he added. Ireland now had a “credible research and development offering” that is recognised internationally.
The expenditure in science and technology must continue despite the economic climate. “Continued State investment is essential.” “This investment must focus on the areas where we have built up a critical mass of excellent research, where there is a market opportunity to exploit that research and where Ireland has or can develop an enterprise sector that can benefit from the research and development,” he said.