Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 44:

In page 12, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “(k) to promote and support the development of public-public partnerships in accordance with section 50;”.

Amendment No. 44 will introduce a new function which will require that the agency will "promote and support the development of public-public partnerships in accordance with section 50". I will talk a little more about public-public partnerships in respect of the rest of this group of amendments.

Amendment No. 79 is a simple amendment which seeks to specify that the schemes for funding of research and innovation should be administered in an impartial manner. Section 35(6) currently specifies that the schemes should be administered in "an independent and transparent manner". We believe that the provisions of the subsection should be made more robust to ensure the agency will be impartial in decision-making regarding the administration of schemes for funding. This relates to the need to put explicit references, again, to parity of esteem in the Bill. Again, this is almost a safeguard which would not really be necessary except for our concerns about certain other areas of the Bill.We have concerns around parity of esteem between the humanities, social sciences and STEM topics, and around section 11 and the extraordinarily large discretionary powers granted to the Minister to give direction to the agency in that regard. This amendment would not be necessary except for the concerns whereby we could end up with an excessively politically directive agency and an agency that is imbalanced with regard to parity of esteem between subjects.

Amendment No. 91 seeks to insert a new section into the Bill that would provide that the agency could enter into, establish or support public-public partnerships for research between designated higher education institutions and public bodies. Amendment No. 92 is a material alternative to amendment No. 91, again, involving a new section allowing the agency to enter into, establish or support public-public partnerships for research between designated higher education institutions and public bodies in Ireland and internationally. In the case of amendment No. 92, I specify some areas. Amendment No. 91 is the general principle of public-public partnerships while in amendment No. 92, I set out a non-exclusive list of some of the areas where I believe this kind of public-public partnership might be necessary and beneficial, for example, the UN Sustainable Development Goals where Ireland played a key role in their negotiation and where the clock is ticking in terms of delivering on them. Other examples are climate action; biodiversity protection and enhancement; social cohesion; gender equality; poverty and social inclusion; disability, including the implementation of the UNCRPD; arts and culture; and workers' rights and the future of work. These areas are significant in Ireland and internationally. There may not be money to be made in these areas and one of the problems with the structures we have in universities is the fact there is a lot of focus on public-private partnership and the way public institutions like universities may link with the private sector and produce items, services or innovations that may lead to profit and the making of money somewhere. Some of the innovation, new ideas, creativity, research and understanding we need are in areas that may not generate money but will be vital in terms of social cohesion, the protection of our very fragile environment and even that existential question of our survival as a species when we look to the question of climate change. Linked to that are really important issues such as global food security.

Some of the solutions will probably involve people making less money but will have a collective value to all of us as a society, the State and the world more widely that is significant. This is why public bodies have a particular role to play in innovation and research because public bodies can often look at how to do things better, which does not always mean more profitably or more cheaply. It may mean more cheaply but what it means is doing things better and delivering more for the public, which all of us as parliamentarians represent.

Regarding some of the things we are going to do on climate change, there is a lot of focus on electric vehicles and on some of the different new applications of the sectoral changes, which I am very enthusiastic about. However, preventing a public sewage system from overflowing, dealing with flood management where we are looking at damage prevention rather than new financial opportunity, having cities speak to each other and having partnerships between universities here and in the global south on food security are really important conversations and there is a big gap in almost the imagination of the State around innovation at the moment.

One of the surprising moments occurred when a parliamentary question was submitted at my request regarding the State and its public partnerships. The response we got back asked whether we meant public-private partnerships. There was such a lack of imagination around what public-public partnerships might be.

I engaged with the former Minister in the last Oireachtas on memorandums of understanding. There are memorandums of understanding between universities and private institutions but there are no equivalent memorandums of understanding that set out the rules in which our third level institutions may constructively engage and partner with public bodies. There are many individual examples in individual higher education institutions of really great collaborations but as an area, it has not been given recognition, tools and focus. If we are setting in place a new infrastructure for research and innovation, the crucial role played in terms of public bodies and innovation and the conversation between different kinds of public bodies in Ireland and different kinds of public bodies and universities internationally will be really important.

It is a very reasonable amendment. In amendment No. 92, I set out some of the reasons I think public-public partnerships are going to be important and some of the areas I see as important but I am quite happy to withdraw amendment No. 92 if the Minister of State would prefer to accept amendment No. 91, which simply sets out the general principle of public-public partnership and names it as something important in terms of the work of research and innovation in the State.