Ms Claire McGee:

I thank the Deputy for her question. Professor Nolan articulated the challenge clearly. Our position is similar in the sense that it has been more of a developing ecosystem for research and innovation capacity. We are really at a point where, as was highlighted, those scorecards may flatter our output, and we have underinvested. We know that if we build a strong, publicly backed education, research and innovation system, it would enable high-performing companies to invest in Ireland. It is a win-win scenario. By having a really strong publicly backed system, one would then leverage that to be able to make businesses more innovative and more resilient. One of the challenges, which Professor Nolan articulated, is about collaboration. We have major productivity gaps within our firm base, with multinational investment companies, some strong, innovative Irish-grown businesses, and then others which are not participating in the ecosystem whatsoever. Some investment is probably needed in that to ensure that they can be participants in our broader innovation ecosystem.

That brings us back to one of the recommendations that we highlighted about graduate placements. Maybe a funded stipend or opportunity for graduate researchers or graduates to be able to go into a small or medium enterprise and focus on a specific project, with a connection back to the institution, would springboard a company's focus on innovation and potential for innovation capacity.

If people read our policy documents or submissions, they will see consensus across the system about the need to prioritise focus on a strong higher education system in order to be able to build the networks to give them the capacity to be able to focus on international revenue streams, grow those international networks, bring research talent into Ireland, collaborate with industry and build a symbiotic relationship with industry. Institutions can then help with bringing the translational element relating to what is new, what is innovative and what is coming downstream into industry, and vice versa. We need to focus on powering up the fundamentals in our innovation ecosystem to be enable us to better leverage it for the future.