| dc.description.abstract | Conclusion by the Minister for Commerce, Science and Technology, Pat Rabbitte TD. Taking all of the foregoing into account, this White Paper is something of a hybrid. It is a White Paper with, at times, a tint of green to it. It engages in and sets out a discussion agenda, as well as a definite programme of actions by the Government, following on from the TIERNEY Report and the work of the Task Force established last year to advise the Government on the prioritisation of STIAC recommendations. In Part One of the White Paper the reader will have found a broad philosophical discussion of the rationale for what we are doing. One critical feature of what we are doing is strongly and overtly linking S&T to innovation and also placing it in the context of national development. S&T will be evaluated by its ability to contribute to wider national goals, as a means to achieving them rather than as an end in itself. In Part Two, the reader will have found some discourse and agendae for the future on particular topics such as the role of education, awareness of S&T and national S&T strategy and structures. A White Paper normally marks the end of discussion. However, in the S&T arena, we need continuous public debate to raise and improve its profile, to establish investment priorities and to ensure that the country derives maximum benefit from that investment. Since taking up the science portfolio in Government I have discovered that scientists are good at communicating with each other. But that internal discourse is conducted in the dense language of the learned journal and the scientific paper. Scientists are, I have learned however, less practised in communicating with the wider society and
mostly feel themselves under little if any obligation to do so. As science becomes central to all of our lives, I suggest that they must. The worst thing that could happen, following publication of the White Paper, is that the debate will fizzle out. Government has played its part by first instigating the STIAC process and now producing this White Paper. But governments cannot be expected to both lead the debate and provide the response. It is very much the responsibility of all of the S&T community to generate discussion on policy and practical concerns and to demonstrate their relevance to the issues of the day. Visibility, followed by responsibility and accountability, is the way forward. | en |
