The Government's chief science adviser says Ireland needs to 'up its game' if its to reach targets set out in the National Development Plan.
Professor Patrick Cunningham told a conference of researchers at UCD that there had been significant progress, quoting Forfás figures which show that spending on research has now reached the OECD average.
Research and development spending has trebled in a decade, the figures show.
But Professor Cunningham said the Government's target was not to be average, but to be among the leaders.
The Government's Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation (SSTI) sets a target of 2.5% of economic output to be spent on research by 2010. The Government adviser said it would be a challenge to reach that target.
