Cullen Welcomes Showcase Of Environmental Research

19/05/2003

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Cullen Welcomes Showcase Of Environmental Research

 "More Environmental Research is Necessary”

“This is research with real policy relevance, addressing many of the key environmental challenges we face,” said Minister for the Environment and Local Government Martin Cullen this morning.  

The Minister was speaking at the opening of Pathways to a Sustainable Future, a conference showcasing Irish environmental research. The event is being held at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, today (May 15) and tomorrow and is one of the main events marking the 10th Anniversary of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  

Paying tribute to the work of the EPA in the ten years since it’s establishment, the Minister said “the Environment Protection Agency has been a major driving force in the progress which has been made on the environmental agenda over the last decade”.  

The EPA, as well as dealing with regulation, also has responsibility for co-ordinating and implementing national programmes of environmental research. The showcase, comprising some 40 presentations and 70 poster displays, will present the results of research under the Environmental Research and Technological Development and Innovation (ERTDI) Programme. The Department of the Environment and Local Government is providing some €30 million to the EPA to fund the ERTDI programme under the NDP over the period 2000-2006. Additional funding from other agencies and the private sector brings the total to almost €50 million. The Minister particularly welcomed the high level of co-operation between the various agencies involved in the programme, lessening the risk of duplication and providing scope for the development of larger projects where multi-disciplinary teams are needed.  

Referring to the impact of research on policy, Minister Cullen said that “the Government commitment to environmental research reflects the fact that the policies that lead change, and the conviction among interest groups and individuals that change is necessary, both rely in substantial measure on good research and that against this background, the ERTDI Programme is playing a critical part in policy development across a range of areas”.  

The Minister then outlined two examples of where the Programme, and resulting research directly supported policy preparation. “Research on sustainable settlements helped preparation of the National Spatial Strategy and climate research is directly helping national policy formulation. It will provide basic scientific data to underpin calculation of emissions from agriculture and the potential for carbon sequestration, areas where Ireland is leading international research”.

Mr. Cullen took the opportunity to remind the assembled researchers that the overall quality of the Irish environment remains good as reported in both the EPA’s state of the Environment Report, 2000 and the OECD Environmental Performance Review of the same year. The same broad conclusion was reached in the European Environment Agency’s recent report for the “Environment for Europe Conference”, which the Minister will attend in Kiev next week. But he acknowledged that “It’s clear, nonetheless, that there are no grounds for complacency and that like elsewhere in Europe, Ireland’s environment is coming under significant pressure”. He continued by stating his view that “a high quality environment fosters - not damages - Ireland’s competitiveness and that research has a major role to play in showing us the way forward in this regard”.