Vol. 319 No. 8
asked the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism if he will outline the extent and the effect of the establishment of industrial offices in association with University Colleges and the obstacles to the establishment of such an association with Colleges of Technology.
184.
asked the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism the industrial liaison offices, if any, which have given rise to college based commercial enterprises marketing high technology.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 183 and 184 together.
The object of the industrial liaison office scheme is to draw on the pool of scientific and technical expertise available in the higher education sector for the benefit of industry and the community.
At present there is an industrial liaison office attached to University College, Galway, and the manager of the Applied Research and Consultancy Group at Trinity College, Dublin, also serves as industrial liaison officer to that college. The industrial liaison office in University College, Galway, and the salary of the industrial liaison officer at Trinity College, Dublin, are funded jointly by their respective colleges and by the National Board for Science and Technology.
The establishment of an industrial liaison office at University College, Cork, is underway and an officer to take charge of this function has recently been appointed.
The industrial liaison office at University College, Galway, is now essentially self-sufficient, having secured contracts of more than £500,000 since their commencement in 1973. These include an EEC contract—on heat pumps—carried out jointly with the New University of Ulster, Coleraine.
The Applied Research and Consultancy Group attached to Trinity College, Dublin, have developed from the industrial liaison office scheme. In addition to the involvement of teaching staff on a consultancy basis, they give employment to eight technologists on an annual contractual basis. They are still in a developmental phase and specialise in environmental and applied biology, microelectronics, applied physics and computer software.
There is no obstacle to the involvement of colleges of technology in the scheme.
