INNOVATION:The expansion of the research and development (R&D) tax credit and an increase in spending on third-level research were welcomed by members of the local technology industry.
The Irish Software Association, however, said the Budget failed to support the software industry.
"While we welcome the continuance of 2003 as the base year in the R&D tax credit system we believe this budget represents a missed opportunity to drive R&D among early-stage technology companies, which could have created the cadre of innovative knowledge-intensive companies that Ireland requires to build a knowledge economy," said ISA chairman Pat Brazel.
Companies engaging in R&D get a tax credit based on the increase in investment over what they spent in 2003.
Mr Cowen has fixed 2003 as the base year for the 20 per cent credit for four years until 2013, which he said will cost the Exchequer an additional €60 million per annum.
In his speech Mr Cowen said the measure was designed to "embed" multinational companies in the Republic by encouraging them to engage in high-value R&D activities.
Mark Redmond, chief executive of the Irish Taxation Institute, noted that the extension of the R&D initiative coincides with the lifespan of the National Development Plan (NDP).
Mr Redmond said the measure was "smart and strategic and affords innovators the opportunity to add to the competitive contribution which the NDP will make to our economy".
Kathryn Raleigh, director of ICT Ireland, the Ibec division that represents the technology sector, said the fixing of the base year was a "good measure".
She was concerned, however, that the Budget speech contained nothing around investment in science and maths teaching at second level, which the industry believes is key to tackling a major skills shortage.
Ms Raleigh welcomed the increased funding for collaborations between industry and academia.
Capital spending on centres for science, technology and engineering and in strategic research clusters has been increased by €36.5 million to almost €300 million, which will be invested in basic research.
An additional €12 million has been earmarked for higher education research, bringing the total Government spend on science, technology and innovation to €133 million next year.
Mr Cowen also announced increases for Fás and the National Training Fund.
Fine Gael's spokesman on Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar questioned the allocation of €25.8 million to Fás to increase allowances for those on training and employment programmes.
"We are just giving it more money without asking it what it is doing with it," he said. "I'd be sceptical about the value of a lot of the work that Fás does."
He was also sceptical about Mr Cowen's decision to allocate €7 million to the National Training Fund for upskilling workers. "The aim is to upskill about 500,000 workers," he said. "I don't see us upskilling that amount of people for that amount of money."