Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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Public funds and money are used to educate the person who produces the research. The research is not paid for by the journal to which it is submitted. The researchers have to sign a copyright agreement with it. It is then peer-reviewed, again at no cost to the journal, and the researchers producing the work have to sign a copyright agreement. They must even carry indemnity against litigation. At the same time, they receive 50 copies free for themselves. After that, in a lot of cases, they actually have to pay to access their own work. It strikes me that something is being paid for from the public purse, in terms of education and the generation of knowledge, which is then sold back. I know that there is international collaboration, but it seems that it is one-way traffic only and that there is no return to the colleges which I think there should be.