Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On that point, every institute of technology in this country has a technology centre, which is based on the same philosophy as the RTOs to which Deputy Collins refers. There are competency centres which are managed through Enterprise Ireland which are very much focused on commercialisation of research and there are also the larger Science Foundation Ireland centres. It might not be any harm for this committee to invite some people from Enterprise Ireland in to map out exactly where the research centres and the competency centres are and to provide an overarching picture for the members. Enterprise Ireland could also give members an overview of the themes and how the research is being funded.

On the issue of innovation vouchers, one must remember that we are talking about taxpayers money. Deputy Collins did make the point that probity is necessary from that perspective. I can understand the point made about the bureaucratic nature of the process. Ultimately, we are trying to get to a point where companies which are often family companies or inter-generational companies in areas such as engineering or manufacturing, come into the research system. We are trying to de construct the filtration system that exists between academia and business so that there is a confluence between the two. It works very well in some parts of the country but not so well in other parts. It is about creating an open-door policy whereby a potential entrepreneur can sit down with a researcher and if there is a new widget to be developed, for example, the process can be seamless. We are aiming to reach a point where the facilitation takes place seamlessly. If the idea does not fly, then so be it. If it does, then it can be funded in a flexible way to get it to the next stage. That is the system we are trying to work towards.