Professor Willie Donnelly:

I agree with everything Dr. Keating has said. At the end of the day, the problem is that we have a layered system of research stipends in third level education. It is not just the funding agencies. That needs to be addressed.

With regard to whether we are in line with European investment in research we are, to a certain extent. It is a very broad church in Europe. We have the European Research Council, which does fundamental research. There is research at an industrial level and research in terms of society. There are also the great challenges with the environment. It simply comes back to the fact that if we do not invest enough money in the research system to create this ecosystem, we will always have certain groups positioning themselves to ensure they are at more of an advantage than other groups in the way research is conducted.

What is important is that we look to Europe and elsewhere. Dr. Keating is right. The first thing is that we have to get up to the European average for investment in research. This is investment in our own future. It is very short-sighted not to do so. As I have said previously, we must also look at how research contributes to the development of our society, how we see our society and how it reflects the qualities we support as a society. This is something we have to do. This has to be a starting point. If the starting point is that the Estimates provide €300 million for research, then we are into a bun fight. It has to start somewhere else.

Something else that has been problematic for a number of years is short-term commitment to investment. If we do not know that investment will be there for the next ten years, how can we plan the development of careers or centres of excellence? How can we engage people in a career in research if we do not make this level of commitment?