Dr. Deirdre Lillis:

I thank the committee for the invitation to address it today as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny process for the general scheme of the research and innovation Bill 2023. The main purpose of this legislation is the formation of a new competitive research funding agency through the amalgamation of the functions and activities of Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council. The primary function of the new agency is to award competitive research and innovation funding in accordance with international best practice. It will work closely with our universities, technological universities, research performers, the Higher Education Authority, Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and many others to deliver its mission. It will collaborate with enterprise, the public sector, the wider community and others to ensure the most people possible benefit from our public investment in research.

An extensive period of stakeholder consultation has informed the development of these heads of the Bill.

This included consultation in 2022 on Impact 2030, the national research and innovation strategy; the Creating our Future campaign of last year, which received 18,000 responses from the public; and the Higher Education Authority Act 2022. Several strong and consistent messages from these consultations informed the functions of the new agency. It will ensure that all research is valued, in all its forms, at all career stages, across all disciplines and across the full spectrum from blue-skies research to applied research and innovation. The consultations confirmed that the contributions of Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council are highly valued by stakeholders, and all of their functions and activities will be transferred to the new agency. It is clear from the consultations, however, that we need to do more to ensure parity of esteem between research areas, to promote equality, diversity and inclusion, to ensure that the voice of our early-career researchers, in particular, is heard, and to promote interdisciplinary and challenge-based research.

The new agency will have a crucial role to play in developing a world-class researcher career framework that will both attract and retain talent in Ireland, working holistically with the university, enterprise and public sectors. The new agency will engage internationally and on a North–South basis and will work with a range of Departments in running funding calls.

Academic freedom is a core value of our democracy. It is enshrined in legislation underpinning our universities and technological universities, and this will be fully respected by the new agency. It is also worth noting that the Irish Research Council is currently a division within the HEA, and the Research and Innovation Bill will provide for parity of esteem on a statutory basis for arts humanities and social science research for the first time.

In keeping with good practice in the governance of State agencies, the new agency will have a board consisting of 12 members who will be selected through an open and transparent Public Appointments Service process. Further structured public consultation is planned. It will be led by the CEO designate of the new agency once appointed.

It is important to note that the new agency will work within a broader research and innovation ecosystem. For example, the Minister recently announced that a new Government science adviser will be appointed and a national science advice forum will be established. The Department has led the development of a Civil Service research network that will connect policymakers with researchers so Ireland can make the best decisions to shape its future. As envisaged in Impact 2030, a research and innovation policy advisory forum, the first of its kind in Ireland, will be chaired by the Minister, and an expression of interest process will be launched in the near future. We have a shared ambition to make Ireland one of the best countries in the world in which to do research and be a researcher. This Bill is a key enabler of that ambition.

I thank the members again for their time. I will be happy to take any questions they may have.