The Government has provided €10 million in extra funding for research initiatives linked to industry and to the involvement of women in research.
It brings to more than €228 million the amount allocated to State science and technology programmes during 2005.
The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Martin, made the announcement yesterday. The additional support will go to Enterprise Ireland, to Science Foundation Ireland and to the Women in Science and Engineering Initiative.
Enterprise Ireland (EI) oversees a range of funding programmes targeted at improving the research capability of firms.
Science Foundation Ireland is the State's largest single funding body for scientific research, with finance coming via the National Development Plan 2000-2006.
The Women in Science initiative promotes the recruitment and retention of women in science, engineering and technology research careers through scholarships, the Minister said.
Of the €10 million, EI received €6 million in support of industry-led initiatives to improve research and collaborative interaction between companies. Another €1 million was allocated to EI's programme to protect and exploit discoveries, the intellectual property flowing from company research.
"These initiatives are in line with the Government's goal of increasing industry spend in R&D," Mr Martin said.
Science Foundation Ireland received €2 million in support of its CSETS (Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology) programme.
This supports very large multimillion euro research initiatives that involve collaborative efforts linking academic and industrial researchers.
The foundation has awarded about €400 million to Irish research since its establishment in 2000.
This has supported more than 1,000 individuals "in creating the knowledge and driving the discoveries to underpin future competitiveness in key industries", the Minister said.
The Women in Science initiative received €1 million in support of its scholarship programme.
"Building research and development capability to support the development of high-value products and services will be a critical foundation of competitive advantage for Ireland going forward," the Minister said.
