Mr. Robert Watt:

I do not accept that characterisation at all, I am afraid. The Government in the context of two recent memos and the Brady review set out a commitment to enhance public health research and capacity. In a further 2020 paper on the impact of research funding, it set out a clear commitment in that regard. In effect, what we were trying to do was to implement policy that had already been agreed by the Government. A memo was circulated and the Minister for Health provided observations on the memo, setting out clearly his intention in respect of the support for enhanced investment in public health research. That was the intention. I am just looking for the document. It states that the Minister for Health welcomes the proposed new national research and innovation strategy 2030. It states that our experience in the pandemic has shown how research can affect public policy and clinical practice and demonstrated how research collaboration across the public, academic and private sectors can directly and rapidly respond to societal needs. It further states that the aims and objectives of the strategy will inform our direction on public health research. It goes on to refer to strengthening the research culture of the health service and links to academia.

A few weeks previously, the Government had approved a policy in respect of research. A few weeks before that, it approved a specific policy in respect of the Brady review. What we were trying to do in the Department in the context of Dr. Holohan's moving on was to give effect to the intention of the Government which it had set out clearly and which the Minister, in welcoming the memorandum, had set out his support for this endeavour, so------