However, the government "has a lot of things to invest in and the taxpayer, the pensioner and the paperboy who pay their tax want to see opportunities in the future for the money they spend," he said. "It is essential we spend it in the best way possible."
As a result, "we are going to review the PGP. That's not to chop it off, but we are looking at where we prioritise our spending. We must spend it in the most effective ways," he said.
Still, he said New Zealand's percentage spend on R&D "is pathetic" and until that is lifted the country will "languish."
O'Connor said his original criticism was around the way the PGPs were set up and whether they provided additional benefits for New Zealand and the taxpayer. "I stand by my focus on that return on investment," he said Thursday.
He reiterated work that has been carried out under the PGPs should be "business as usual."
While he accepted that the taxpayer funding had provided incentives for research that might not have been done otherwise "until this kind of research becomes business as usual, we are at risk of falling behind," he said.
