David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am trying to draw a distinction between researchers who have no role whatsoever in governance, management and oversight and those who do. If a person has a role in governance, management and oversight, that should be his or her role. In other words, the role of the head of research and innovation should be exclusively to protect the interests of the institute. Some of that person's time should not be invested in personal interests in private companies that benefit from institutional resources and so on. We can fundamentally disagree on that point, but we will get to the bottom of what happened in this institution. If the person were to go on to become president of the institute, would he or she, when applying for the job, have to declare at interview stage that he or she was a director and shareholder in a number of companies co-located in the institute? Would that have to be declared as part of the interview process?