The Government needs to attract more multinational firms to undertake research in the Republic and double the number of researchers to bridge an R&D gap with other European states.

It must also better co-ordinate its policy on information communication technology (ICT) to ensure the development of the sector, a report prepared for Science Foundation Ireland shows.

ICT Creating Europe's most attractive environment for intellectual property is a joint submission to the Government research agency by the Irish Academy of Engineering, The Institution of Engineers and ICT Ireland.

It makes eight key recommendations to Government, including a proposal to establish the first intellectual property Commercialisation Centre in Ireland.

This centre should be established for an initial five-year life span and have control over a €10 million patent fund to help small firms commercialise their intellectual property. It would act as a "one-stop shop" for industry that was seeking to partner with third-level research, says the report.

The report says the absence of a commercialisation culture among third-level researchers was one of the key issues raised by the task force. Some researchers are not aware of the potential financial gain from IP.

Another key recommendation made by the report is the establishment of a €100 million ICT applied research fund to provide for joint public/private funding of industry and third-level research projects.

The access to this fund would be wide, with an objective of "kick-starting" industry and educational collaborations in the field of ICT, it says.