Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I take the point that has been made about baseline funding. The calls from SFI are open to any institution and are based on the ability of the institution to attract the right personnel. I am very familiar with the work that is going on in Cork Institute of Technology, CIT, and how the IOTs compete with the universities. The recent Irish Photonics Centre is led by the Tyndall National Institute comprising UCC and CIT. The excellent research base in light and photonics in CIT has allowed it become academic partners and win when the call was put out by SFI.
The process of creating a technological university is under way. The issue of baseline funding will have to be teased out. The targets for research performing organisations are set out and we have mapped out where SFI, the Health Research Board and Teagasc spend money. We have conducted a research prioritisation exercise and established the priorities. If we are to set out what we call compacts for each institution in terms of performance, we must have a level playing field. A research entity may have expectations but in the case of a dearth of baseline funding, the question of performance has to be considered in the light of circumstances. Let me sound a warning and say, without prejudice, that this is still an evolving process. It must happen in a collaborative way and through a conciliatory process. Some of the issues have still to be teased out.
Deputy ÁineCollins raised the question of RTOs. I acknowledge the point she makes on the 2013 review by the OECD. This view echoes that of the Advisory Council for Science Technology and Innovation In Ireland in its report on the sustainability of research centres published in 2012. Forfás will carry out a study on research and technology centres and we will look at best practice in the area to see what that will bring in.
The issue in relation to the unified patent court, UPC -----