The chamber's submission on the National Development Plan calls for an annual R&D spend of 5bn by 2010, in line with the EU Lisbon Strategy.

US companies are calling for the creation of an 'Innovate Ireland' brand initiative to secure Ireland's future as a knowledge economy. They want government to use the public-private partnership model to fast-track expenditure in R&D and education facilities.

"We need to improve the Irish proposition, " said Mike Devane, chair of the chamber's R&D group and managing director of Lucent Technologies in Ireland. He said the chamber is "very concerned" about the ability to attract further investment:

"A lot of what Ireland offers by way of competitiveness is now being offered elsewhere.

Since 2000, you can see a significant drop-off in investment in the ICT sector."

Ireland must establish its "credibility" in the global knowledge economy, Devane warned. "We are insignificant in the scheme of things."

He criticised the fact that Irish R&D spending is below 2% of GDP, noting that the leaders in the field, Japan and Finland, spend about 4%.

"The current thinking is that, unless you are at 3%, you are not even at the races."

The chamber's submission calls for US firms to be used as "anchors", helping create value from indigenous research and intellectual property, and also serving as a "backbone" to help Irish companies reach global markets.

Ireland Inc should be cooperating more closely with the American corporates on R&D, Devane said, especially in the area of convergent technologies.

"By linking investment through universities, coinvesting with multinationals and bringing in the SME base, we would have a tripartite arrangement that maximises everyone's investment."