Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

While I understand the only item of legislation the Department has been asked to addressed relates to the SUSI grant, my questions relate more broadly to Brexit. What efforts is the Department making to ensure Irish research will be multipolar and international? All of the presentations in the Brexit and Horizon Europe workshop proceedings mentioned that the issue of researcher mobility was crucial, while one of the speakers stated mobility in Europe was a key aspect of research. There is real concern about whether we will be able to compete for graduates if we cannot train our own.

The area of climate knowledge is fast-paced and changing and the need for skill sharing and mobility has become twice as important. What efforts are we making to ensure we will be more independent and self-reliant in acquiring skills for the green economy? At a previous committee meeting on apprenticeships I noted that there was a severe lack of engineers and construction workers for retrofitting and other green build activities, whereas most of those who are available have had to be trained abroad. The United Kingdom is the closest country in which people speak English. In advance of Brexit, what efforts are we making to cultivate these skills, given that many of them were built in the United Kingdom because of EU directives and regulations, including the nearly zero energy building standard? According to the Irish Green Building Council, 54% of Irish organisations that participated in the World Green Building Trends 2018 SmartMarket report expect their projects to be green by 2021, well above the global average of 47%. The projections are led not only by client demand but also EU regulations. When the regulations change after Brexit, from where will our skill set come?

The Minister indicated that Horizon 2020 was within the remit of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, but I think it is within the remit of the Department of Education and Skills. The United Kingdom is the second largest recipient of funding under Horizon 2020. It has received 15.2% of the grants distributed, or €5.7 billion, under the programme thus far.

As well as funding nuclear research projects, Horizon 2020 supports scientific partnerships with countries across Europe and beyond, provides access to large-scale international research facilities and joint infrastructure, and offers fellowships for talented researchers to spend time working abroad. In the wake of Brexit, is there a way this funding could be accessed by Ireland? Could it be used to return to our recent high standards after years of cuts and decline? As the UK loses access to Horizon 2020, many UK academics will be looking for English language opportunities. What steps are we taking to attract academics from the UK, including the many brilliant Irish academics?