SCIENCE and technology is to be included in the title of a full government department in recognition of the increasing role these areas play in our lives, the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, said in Dublin yesterday.

The move will likely come tomorrow, when he is also expected to change the name of the Department of Social Welfare.

Formally opening the European headquarters of the US communications company Trans Network Services, whose systems speed credit card transactions from shops to banks and back, Mr Ahern said science and technology were helping to drive the Irish economy.

Currently, the junior minister at the Department of Enterprise and Employment, Mr Pat Rabbitte, has responsibility for science and technology.