Dr. James Browne:

The university has a long history in this space. We were the first university in the country to have incubator units, going back to 1973. With the support of what was then the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards, IIRS, the university then created an incubator unit on the campus. We are very proud of that.

The university has significant research activity, funded primarily by third parties, including State third parties. That activity creates intellectual property. The university has policies with regard to the exploitation of that intellectual property. It has policies with regard to conflict of interests and all or any conflicts arising from intellectual property.

In terms of the exploitation of IP, the university incurs the cost of patenting intellectual property with the support of Enterprise Ireland. Exploitation can arise in a number of ways. One way is where a company, an external organisation, decides it wishes to purchase IP from the university. If that happens, the proceeds are shared within the university. We have a table which shows the precise break-out of those shares, which I can pass to the Deputy if he is interested. The money is shared between the university centrally, the school to which the individual belongs, and the individual who acquired the IP. That is all set out in our procedures. That is one way of exploiting it.

A second possibility is that an individual in the university who has created intellectual property which has been patented may wish to exploit it through a start-up company. The university supports that, with the support of Enterprise Ireland generally or with the support of other similar organisations, and the university takes a share in the company. The individual will also have a share in the company, which then proceeds to do its business. The reality is that, over time, the university's share is diluted as further investments go in. If and when the enterprise is successful, if it is sold, the university then acquires the value of its shares.