“Ireland has invested strongly in science research in recent years, since the Technology Foresight exercise was completed in 1999. Given current constraints on the public finances, some questions may arise: Does this investment pay? How can we see the return? We must be careful in making assessments on these matters. We may make some short-term (and wrong) decisions because the benefits of investments are not always direct, or immediate. The Technology Foresight reviews were undertaken a decade ago with the realisation that a production model based on low costs and labour surpluses had run its course …” (more)
[Seán Dorgan, Irish Times, 14 July]