FIANNA Fáil and the Greens’ revised capital programme has slashed investment in higher education infrastructure by a massive €1 billion and this could have a hugely negative affect on Ireland’s university level R&D capacity, according to Fine Gael Innovation & Research Spokesperson, Deirdre Clune TD.

Deputy Clune added that, with the Government refusing to reform third level funding, Ireland is set to lose out badly.
“You can’t build a smart economy or provide high tech jobs by slashing the funds that go toward building facilities to train the next generation of Irish researchers.

“Research and Development is critical to pulling Ireland out of recession, providing blue-chip jobs and positioning Ireland to be top of the global knowledge economy.

“It is difficult to see how this will happen if Fianna Fáil and the Greens are slashing capital budgets to such an extreme extent. The National Development Plan, launched to much fanfare in 2007, pledged €1.975 billion to building new higher education infrastructure.
“However, the revised programme announced yesterday slashed this by a massive €1 billion, instead promising €650 million through the Education and Skills budget and €300 million through the PRTLI 5 budget.

“Ultimately, it is the Irish economy that will lose out. From an innovation and research point of view, we need to be at a world class level. We need Irish universities to get into and stay in the top 50 in the world.

“This cannot and will not occur if capital investment is cut by such a huge amount. It will have knock on effects for years to come as Irish universities will be unable to position themselves as innovation hubs.

“With no reform of funding for the third level sector, this comes as a double blow. To add insult to injury, it is clear that Fianna Fáil and the Greens have scrapped their ‘Smart Economy’ plan. It was only launched 19 months ago and now lies in tatters.

“Supporting and encouraging research and innovation in our third level sector is crucial to help Ireland recover from our current economic troubles, and also to be recognised as a country committed to sectors where sustainable economic growth can be achieved in the future,” she said.