Inflation versus Innovation - Budget 2009

A great hullabaloo was given to the announcement in yesterday's budget that €300m was being earmarked for the continued implementation of the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation.

Science Foundation Ireland is up €7m from last year to €179m
Enterprise Ireland is up a little over €3m from last year to €127m

I'd like to point something to the Minister - inflation is running at 4.3% according to the CSO so that means that both SFI and EI are actually running behind inflation, so no new schemes or extra changes here. This will probably mean that there will probably be more contracting of existing schemes rather than a directed push for more innovation, research or commercialisation. The meagre 5% rise in R&D tax credits to 25% isn't worth anything to the figures I've done based on my own tech transfer experiences. The final insult is the lack of any effort to provide a broadband infrastructure to deal with the third world or worse state of this critical technological engine of change.

This adds onto my disgust at the treatment of OAPs and marginalised sectors of society. Well done, Minister - no reform, no strategy. At least Ray `the knive' MacSharry could claim some reform in the public sector but this is a joke of a budget with the private sector, the old, and the marginalised left to suffer the pain.