Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. I again offer my congratulations to Ms Austick on being elected president of USI. It is a great achievement.

I approach this issue having worked as a contract researcher on a research award at third level and I also have experience of having worked in funding agencies, so I have a little knowledge of what it is like to be a contract researcher at third level. I very much disagree with the statement of Ms Donegan regarding research and funding being linked to industrialisation. I believe the research prioritisation that has happened in recent years has actually increased the number of PhD students. In fact, the statistics we have that link back to the Central Statistics Office show that the number of PhD students at third level has increased by 100% since 2011. The number has increased to 30,000, whereas in 2006 there were approximately 11,000 PhD students. That shows there has been incredible Government investment in third level to encourage excellence in all universities, as well as the institutes of technology that are now making the transformational leap to technological university status. I point to the fact that more than €1 billion in Horizon Europe funding has been made available. That is a milestone for Ireland in terms of the funding that has been achieved by researchers on the ground. These are research teams that have done incredible things. We are past juste retour. I believe that what we have achieved in third level and on behalf of the researchers and research teams is absolutely incredible. It shows that we are internationally competitive. The areas that are being funded are areas of societal challenge. That is what is being considered. Researchers are considering the environment, energy, food production systems, robotics and artificial intelligence, independent living and an ageing population. These are the areas that are being funded. This is what researchers are doing. I really disagree with the remarks of Ms Donegan in that regard.

I wish to highlight that we are here for pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the Higher Education Authority Bill. As Ms Donegan mentioned in her opening statement, there are many areas to be considered in the context of the precarious situation for researchers. There is a significant amount to be done in this regard. However, I point to the number of PhD students who are graduating from university and finding employment in areas outside the academic field. Many graduates are moving into industry.

Some of the key drivers of innovation we have seen, especially in the west, are in medtech, engineering, links between healthcare and engineering and multidisciplinary research. They are really driving that holy trinity of universities being embedded in their societies and communities and responding to what we need. I will point to one example I am aware of. Even in the past year Since Foundation Ireland, SFI, had funding for Covid-related research. That funding went, I think, to each and every university and institute of technology and allowed researchers to focus on an immediate impact of a crisis we face this year. There are certain things there that I would take on board. How can we work towards supporting researchers in respect of the contracts? I understand that, whether master's, PhD or post-doc students, it is about excellence and trying to ensure that people graduate to whatever levels they can and then have a career in areas that can be outside of third level. I will ask Ms Austick of the USI about the students. This is very much about the student experience. That is at the heart of the Bill the Minister, Deputy Harris, has brought before us. What one or two things about the student experience would Ms Austick pull out of the Bill before her?

I will leave it at that for the time being. I might come back to Ms Dolan if I have time.