With this in mind, as part of its 'smart economy' plans, the Government says it will build on its €8.2bn five-year injection of monies into science and technology with a €500m venture fund, called Innovation Fund Ireland. It will be divided among five funds worth €75m-€150m each.

More favourable tax treatment is to be introduced to entice investors to fund innovative start-ups, and there will be exemption from corporation tax for the first three years of operation for business start-ups. Revised arrangements for the taxation of intellectual property will be developed during the course of this year, the Government promises.

"Innovation is essential to returning to where we have come from," says Frank Gannon, director general of Science Foundation Ireland. "We shouldn't segment it from the needs of companies today." He cites Cork's Tyndall National Institute as just one example of a hotbed of collaboration between great R&D minds and industry (IBM is one big name involved) to achieve commercial results.

Ireland has always punched above its weight in terms of producing great innovators. In spite of the hoary old gags (the solar powered torch, the waterproof towel, the inflatable dartboard) that a web search of 'Irish inventions' throws up, beyond the jaded stereotypes are a host of Irish innovations, including the hypodermic syringe, the first successful submarine, the modern tractor, the ejector seat and much more.

THE body-heat powered battery

Veteran Irish inventor Noel Daly was enduring that special hell that only parents know -- being trapped in a confined space with your bored offspring -- when his idea hit him.

"I was returning from holiday in Florida when our children's Nintendo and PSP games ran out of battery power one hour into the flight," he recalls. Instead of panicking and reaching for his parachute Daly was inspired, saying to his wife: "Wouldn't it be great if I could develop a cushion product that would take body heat and convert it to trickle charge a battery?" He came up with Mi-POWER, a cushion which harnesses naturally occurring body heat and converts it to top-up battery power suitable for MP3 players, mobiles, game consoles, laptops and more.

This green technology could also be integrated into office seats, car seats or seats on planes to contribute to heating, cooling or flight entertainment systems. The concept is attracting interest from mobile phone companies, durable goods manufacturers and games firms, and Daly says the next step is to seal a deal with a suitable collaborator/investor.

tag your children

KidSpotter is a device that aims to actually enhance children's freedom to roam rather than restrict it, by means of a gadget that is worn like a watch and monitors where a child is via GPS or Bluetooth signal, using the internet or a mobile phone. There is also a 'help' button that the child can press in an emergency and an alarm that will signal if a child wanders beyond a certain area.

Already in use in the big UK theme parks, Alton Towers and Chessington World of Adventures, KidSpotter is to be introduced in Europe's biggest shopping centre, the Westfield in London.

Though it was originally intended for use in areas with a large footfall, the KidSpotter team -- Irish founder-directors Andrew Dunne and Liam Darling -- have responded to consumer demand for a home use model, called KidSpotter Everyday, which will be a subscription service.

There are no plans as yet to adopt the device for use on wayward spouses, confused elderly relatives or straying pets.

end to injections

There are tens of millions of diabetes sufferers worldwide who have to inject themselves each day with the insulin they need to survive -- an invasive and inconvenient necessity.

But now Irish company Merrion Pharmaceuticals has devised a technology which will make life safer and easier for diabetics and other patients who up to now have had to receive medication by injection or by spending hours on a drip in hospital.

Merrion has come up with a way of delivering drugs in a pill form that can be taken orally and will allow medicines to be absorbed by the stomach and intestine in a way that wasn't possible before. In December the company inked a deal with diabetes drug giant Novo Nordisk to bring the innovation to market, a move which is likely to be worth billions of euro to both companies, but will also represent savings for health boards and huge quality-of-life benefits for patients.

According to Merrion's CEO John Lynch, the revolutionary technology has very broad potential applications for osteoporosis, fertility and various cancer treatments.

From Karaoke nights to diagnoSing heart disease

The technology that strips out the voice on music tracks to leave just the background tune for Karaoke use is actually highly sophisticated (unlike your local's Karaoke night) and has potential beyond providing a platform for the murdering of I Will Survive or Dancing Queen after three G&Ts on an empty stomach on a Friday night after work.

It is the basis for a development that could prove lifesaving by aiding the detection of coronary heart disease, which at the moment is difficult to detect right up to the heart-clutching-chest-pain/collapse- in-a-heap stage.

Dr Scott Rickard, a senior lecturer and researcher at UCD, heads a team that has received €1m funding from Science Foundation Ireland to develop a stethoscope with a series of microphones which can separate sounds to detect heart problems that might not otherwise be discovered until a patient has been opened up for surgery.

It is called the Darius Project after UCD student Darius Vasseghi, who died as a result of undiagnosed heart disease.

Getting a device to marketplace is still some way off, Dr Rickard says, but the research is proceeding in the right direction.

Rubbish-devouring bugs producing recyclable plastic

Refuse-eating microbes are likely to play a bigger part in day-to-day life in the near future. The UCD campus-based company Bioplastech is looking at new ways of converting everyday waste materials into biodegradable plastics to deliver an alternative to the pricey and increasingly scarce petrochemicals used in much plastic manufacture.

"Bacteria gobble up the waste and make a different type of plastic that's biodegradable," explains Dr Kevin O'Connor of Bioplastech. He says international companies in the waste management business are interested in the development and he expects the technology to be in use commercially in two years' time.

Functional foods that provide more than just nutrition

Shannon Minerals currently has 30 people from a cross-section of scientific and technical disciplines employed in its R&D facility in Limerick who work on developing food and drink products with added benefits.

One of these is a bottled drink which it developed to aid weight loss. Coolwater Trim contains hydroxycitric acid (HCA), a well-established appetite suppressant that reduces the inclination to overeat. HCA is a natural plant extract, from the rind of the fruit Garcinia Cambogia.

A sister firm, Shannon Protein Technologies, develops sports nutrition products such as RAM, which contains a beneficial ratio of carbohydrates to proteins along with anti-oxidants and glutamine, aimed at speeding up recovery after training, by restoring electrolytes, water and glycogen stores and reducing muscle stress.

At the end of last year Shannon Minerals was reeling from the fallout following a contamination scare that forced it to remove one of its water products from shelves. It was a tough ordeal, but the company is worth a reported €6m, counts Aldi and Tesco among its clients and is set on expanding further into international markets.

The innovations here are just a flavour of what's in the pipeline. There are many more, from the simple but effective -- a spider catcher or a gadget for correcting wobbly tables -- to the highly technically advanced -- a wave energy optimiser and a brain activity monitor. Here's hoping recession doesn't hamper the pace of their progress.