Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On a practical note, we will distribute the information on the technology centres' status so that members can trace their lineage from the establishment of two in March 2010 to the proposed three centres in 2013. We can provide a further briefing note on Enterprise Ireland's research and development programmes. The committee has received a good note detailing the practical overview of the innovation vouchers, the research and development fund, technology centres and high-potential start-ups, HPSUs.

Were the committee to facilitate me, I would welcome an opportunity to return and delve deeper into the issue of research and innovation. Since the Estimates process is condensed, leading to a concertina effect, one would appreciate an opportunity to return, interrogate the landscape further and encourage members to visit some of the research centres in a co-ordinated fashion. Before I became a Minister of State, these matters could be nebulous and theoretical. If one gets one's fingers dirty by seeing what the researchers are doing in the centres and how they engage with industry, one has a chance to understand the situation fully. I am not saying that members do not understand it, but my experience of visiting the centres and seeing their work for myself helped me to capture what they were doing.

I wish to address the issue of silos. The Minister hit on it in terms of the health innovation hub. As the Minister of State with responsibility for innovation, my role is to try to break down those silos. The recent announcement represents the largest investment ever, with €300 million from the industry as well as State funding for research organisations, institutes of technology and universities. This will break down the traditional silos, elements of the industry will collaborate with one another along thematic lines, and the silos within academic circles will also be broken down. We are in a new disposition, in that people must collaborate if they are to flourish and survive. This is the underlying principle. I thank the Chairman and will leave matters there.