But it is unlikely that as much money will be made from this worldwide sale of great Irish ideas as flowed from Riverdance or the aforementioned Lyrics Board. A government spokesman said there had been no sales yet, even though the initiative has "attracted significant national and international interest".

The software, launched by Ahern in 2004, won two Irishbased technology awards and, last April, was shortlisted for America's prestigious Knowledge Management Awards.

Under the deal with In. vision Research Ltd . . . which developed the programme with the Taoiseach's department . . . the exchequer will pick up 50% of the proceeds of the first sale to a third party and 25% of all subsequent sales.

"This agreement is innovative and will ensure that a return to the exchequer is made on foot of the Irish government's investment in the project, " said the department.

However, a government spokesman added that the 'royalties' the government can expect from the sale of its software programme will be "modest" as the Taoiseach owns just a small part of the programme. In. vision Research owns the application for the programme and will thus take the lion's share of any sales.

To date, eCabinet has cost the exchequer 4.7m to develop but the government spokesman could not say how much of that money will be recouped by the deal with In. vision.

The programme creates, circulates and distributes cabinet and policy papers ahead of weekly cabinet meetings.

Given the sensitive nature of these documents, security is key. A recent development will see fingerprint authentication for ministers and 'high-end' users when preparing cabinet briefing papers.

The system is used by 6,500 civil servants, though few have top level security clearance.

In.Vision set up in Ireland in 2001 and employs seven people in Dublin. After a public tendering process, the company won the contract to develop eCabinet in 2002.