Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 83: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the initiatives she has taken to encourage the food industry to invest in research and development; the initiatives she has taken to promote transfer of intellectual property from the research base in to industry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40525/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's Agri Vision 2015 Plan of Action and the National "Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation 2006-2013", which were launched this year, identify the necessary actions to build a knowledge-based, competitive, innovative and consumer focussed agri-food sector. Investment in Research and Development is at the forefront of these strategy documents and funding in this area has been a priority for my Department.

My Department provides competitive funding of public good food research programmes by the Universities, Institutes of Technology and Teagasc and core funding for the public service research role of Teagasc. In carrying out its public service role Teagasc seeks to achieve a balance between free dissemination of knowledge and legal protection of its research results and recognises the principle that its intellectual property should be used for the greatest public benefit. As a development organisation it has a special responsibility for linking public research to industry. An important role in this process is played by Teagasc's commercial subsidiary, Moorepark Technology Ltd, which is a pilot plant operated on a commercial basis that gives public researchers a process focus and provides industry and Teagasc with a technology transfer vehicle. Recently Teagasc has hired an Intellectual Property Officer to encourage and support the recognition, identification and optimum protection of its IP and promote an entrepreneurial culture among the organisation's staff in this area.

Under the Food Institutional Research Measure (FIRM) funding for the public good element of research, from basic to pre-commercial, is allocated by my Department on a competitive basis. The main objectives of the Programme are to provide a base of information and expertise in generic technologies that supports innovation and product development in the food industry, and assists in assuring consumer protection by ensuring that product development is underpinned by attention to food safety and quality issues. Funding amounting to €94 million has been approved to date for FIRM projects under the National Development Plan 2000-2006. The outcomes of FIRM research are disseminated widely for the benefit of the industry as a whole via the RELAY project (website reference www.relayresearch.ie).

My Department is keen to ensure that Intellectual Property rights arising from food research are secured and exploited to the maximum. In its 2004 report — The National Code of Practice for Managing Intellectual Property from Publicly Funded Research- the Irish Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (ICSTI), stated that public research organisations have a responsibility to ensure that "commercially viable opportunities are recognised and exploited for public good". According to this code of practice, "transparent and consistent procedures for managing intellectual property are key to transferring the knowledge generated in our PROs (Public Research Organisations) to industry and therefore to commercial reality." With this aim in mind, a workshop funded under FIRM, and attended by representatives of all industry stakeholders, to discuss the whole area of Intellectual Property rights took place in October 2005. The Code was published in November 2005.

Funding to the food industry for in-company research and technology transfer is administered by Enterprise Ireland. In addition, my Department works closely with Enterprise Ireland to ensure that all aspects of food research, from applied to commercial, are facilitated and has supported initiatives by Enterprise Ireland to encourage greater involvement by the food industry in food research and development.