A study that attempts to anticipate how Ireland can make the most of emerging technologies in the next century will be integrated into the National Development Plan, the Minister of State for Science, Technology and Commerce has said.

Mr Noel Treacy has also said that a group involving Forfas and the Office for Science and Technology has been created to advise Government on preparing Ireland for knowledge-based industries.

Mr Treacy was speaking at the presentation by Forfas and the Irish Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (ICSTI) of the Council's "Technology Foresight" report, which recommends industrial policy measures in the medium term to 2015. He said the "historic" document was comparable to the policy documents of the 1950s and 1960s which began the process of attracting international manufacturing investment.