Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Let me respond to Senator Clune first. Industry has always been a partner with academia on outputs from research, be it economic, development or specific industrial or SME needs.

The creation of the SFI centres has seen industry put up significant resources in kind and in hard cash contribution so industry is very much taking a punt and becoming active stakeholders in this process. The €100 million is a direct investment by industry - with two thirds coming from the taxpayer and one third from industry. If one looks at the revisions to the research and development tax credit, we have tried to improve the system in a way that allows for an increase in the amount of expenditure on what we call a full volume basis. It used to be based on a base year but now we are increasing the limit from €200,000 to €300,000. We are trying to encourage more SMEs to participate in research and development. We have put in place an increase, from 10% to 15%, in the limit on the amount of qualifying research and development expenditure that can be outsourced to another company. If one examines the OECD average on the balance between public and private investment, we are ahead of the average. If one considers the OECD average as an universally accepted metric, we are doing well.

I hope that answers the question.