Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 108: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the way and when the commercialisation culture outlined in the Building Ireland's Smart Economy: A Framework for Sustainable Economic Renewal report will be implemented; and the steps taken in its implementation since December 2008. [43143/09]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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In December 2008, the Government reinforced the importance of the investment in the commercialisation of publicly funded research in 'Building Ireland's Smart Economy – A Framework for Sustainable Economic Renewal', and tasked enterprise agencies Enterprise Ireland, IDA and Science Foundation Ireland, with the job of instilling a commercialisation culture in the enterprise sector and third-level institutions. It is essential that Ireland's research community is motivated and well resourced to deliver the cutting-edge products and services that can be integrated into existing companies to give them competitive advantage, or form the basis of a new company, thereby creating exports and employment.

In 2009 Enterprise Ireland launched the Business Partners Programme, a pilot scheme for engaging entrepreneurs with the research commercialisation projects in the Irish research system that are close to being ready for commercialisation. The purpose of the scheme is to bring selected research commercialisation projects to the point where they are "spin out", or company, "start up ready". The scheme is providing the Enterprise Ireland commercialisation activities with a novel key resource in driving increased delivery on the targets for High Potential Start-Up companies from state funded research.

Enterprise Ireland's communications strategy for 2009 included a number of events and publications designed to motivate academic researchers to commercialise their research and to increase public awareness of the economic and societal benefits of the commercialisation of academic research, from commercialisation forums to new commercialisation web and "bloging" initiatives to research technology showcases where researchers displayed their technology to industry. The evidence is that this message is being heard. In a survey of third level researchers conducted in October 2009 78% of respondents stated that they would now like to commercialise their research; this shows an increase of 17% from 2008.

To date over 100 companies have been spun out from funded research in the third level system. These companies have a combined annual turnover of €160 million and €13 7 million in exports and employ over 1000 people. In 2009 Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and IDA developed programmes and supports to further drive the commercial return on the State's research investment through direct funding and advice to researchers to commercialise their research and supports to institutions to help build the commercialisation system.

In early 2009 Science Foundation Ireland set as itself a strategy to significantly enhance its focus on the relationship between scientific research and the current and future competitiveness of Irish industry. To this end SFI has set targets for collaborating with enterprise, generation of spin out companies, production of high quality research output and personnel. Some examples of the actions taken to date to assist with the commercialisation culture are: o Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland have been working together to realise the commercial potential arising from SFI funded programmes. In 2009 an initiative focused on the commercialisation of research funded under the Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) programme aims to accelerate the realisation of national economic benefits from the CSET programme through active commercialisation of research outputs.

o In the July 2009 call for proposals for the Energy SRC Programme there is a requirement to ensure that industry shares in the cost of the investment

o SFI now carries out an annual census of outputs and impacts which shows that (in 2008) SFI funded projects have collaborations with 311 companies, 170 of which are multinational companies, 108 are small/medium enterprises as well as and 33 other companies.

o a Head of Industry Research Development has been appointed by SFI to ensure that prospects for industry-academic collaboration and commercialisation of research opportunities are realised;

Enterprise Ireland offers a suite of supports to academics to commercialise their research and supports to institutions to help build the commercialisation system. These include supports for effective Technology Transfer Offices in Universities, commercially relevant research centres in Institutes of Technology and Campus Incubation facilities to support new technology companies in their formative years. This programme to realise the commercial potential of Ireland's research community is supported in 2009 by a projected level of investment of €36 million. To date in 2009 the Enterprise Ireland supported Technology Transfer Offices facilitated the creation of 20 start-up companies, 339 invention disclosures, 97 priority patents filed and 47 technology licence transfers between companies.

Further, in an effort to instil appropriate attitudes from the start, my Department funds the Discover Science and Engineering programme to encourage more students to take up careers in the physical sciences and in engineering. Through programmes of support for the science curriculum at primary and second levels, the Discover Science and Engineering programme seeks to encourage students to take an interest in science and engineering and subsequently to study those subjects at third and fourth level and in time become the entrepreneurs of the future.