Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

If I was to proffer a personal opinion, I would contend we could be doing more on the commercialisation agenda. If we were spinning out more companies, for instance, from the higher education institutes, that would ultimately lead to further job creation. It must be remembered also that our investment in research, or research, development and innovation, through the collaborative approach with all of the foreign direct investment companies housed here, ensures their continuation in the country. It also ensures greater innovation in these companies. It is a two-prong approach. It is about trying to achieve more in the commercialisation space through the creation of more companies and also about ensuring the existing foreign direct investment, FDI, infrastructure is not compromised in any way. It is also about ensuring the research component is maintained.

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