Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Professor Clinch on his appointment and I have no doubt that he will do a very fine job. I attended an event forum recently in the city at which the universities and institutes of technology, ITs, were outlining the contributions they have made to research and innovation, working in partnership with businesses particularly in their catchment areas and arguing the case for more investment. I want to get a sense of how Professor Clinch sees SFI's relationship with the universities and ITs.

What are the main challenges facing SFI in Professor Clinch's opinion? I appreciate he has not assumed his role yet but he would not have been appointed without commanding a sense of where the foundation is now and where it needs to go. What are the challenges and how does Professor Clinch propose to deal with them?