Ireland spends about $600 million annually on science, a significant sum for a country whose population is roughly the size of metropolitan Boston. At the same time, the figure falls considerably below the proportion of the gross national product spent on science by its European neighbors.
The Irish minister of state for science, Sean McCarthy, described the new program as "seed money," with much of it being spent on new instrumentation. McCarthy unveiled the $4 million program June 11, four months after the current government was elected. McCarthy is the country's first science minister, underlining the importance the new government has placed on science and technology.
The three universities in Cork, Galway and Dublin will set up "centers of excellence" in biotechnology under the new scheme, with programs in food biotechnology, diagnostics and cell culture. McCarthy said he hopes the biotechnology program will "expand significantly" in 1988.
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