Professor Helen Kelly-Holmes:

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach agus le baill an choiste as an gcuireadh. I am delighted and honoured to be here today to offer input in an individual capacity on the new Bill, which represents a wonderful opportunity for Irish researchers.

I am very aware that members will have probably already heard many of the points that I will raise today from previous witnesses and in other submissions, but I hope that I can offer a fresh perspective as an active researcher and as a trainer of researchers. The training starts at undergraduate level and goes all the way to postdoctoral level. I am an evaluator and reviewer of research in a variety of national and international contexts and a previous dean of the faculty of arts, humanities and social sciences, which also incorporates creative and performing arts.

First, in terms of the objects, under head 8, while making Ireland attractive for research and enhancing the Irish economy and society through research are essential, what is perhaps missing is an externally focused ambition for Irish research. I suggest adding the promotion of Ireland's contribution to global research agendas – something we are already doing – and knowledge creation and global problem-solving as a goal of research and innovation in Ireland. Also, in relation to the objects under head 8, along with my colleague, I would suggest that a commitment to ethical research and research integrity be included in order to emphasise their importance more than ever in today's research context.

As the text of the general scheme points out, all research has application in that it adds to the sum of knowledge, as in head 3, which deals with interpretation. It may, however, take a very long time for the application of much valuable research to become apparent. That is the case in particular in my area of humanities and social sciences. I urge the new agency to be bold in recognising the benefits of funding that do not meet the criteria of immediacy, obvious applicability, commercial viability, or current sentiment.

On a related point, it is very welcome to see the commitment to supporting research within disciplines under paragraph (a) of head 8. Interdisciplinarity gives us breadth, but we also need the depth that comes from single discipline-specific, single principal investigator research. This space, which is particularly important for humanities and social sciences is increasingly under pressure, and I would argue, disappearing even in terms of small-scale funding in the current national funding environment.

The general scheme offers a great opportunity to enshrine parity of esteem – a topic that has been discussed a lot here - between disciplines in the remit of the new agency, and to define interdisciplinarity as a partnership of equals. We need genuine equality between STEM and social sciences and humanities from the outset in the design of our research programmes. This means that all disciplines are integral and equal partners, and that they are co-driving the agenda in knowledge creation, understanding, and problem-solving. A scroll through today's headlines shows us that more than ever, we need both STEM and AHSS perspectives equally in our complex interconnected and constantly changing world.

As we know, excellent research thrives on peer review, transparent and rigorous governance and robust scrutiny.

For these reasons I urge that there be more explicit information in the Bill, for example under head 15, about how input will be sought and secured in the formation of the board and the development of the corporate plan. In addition to the full list of those stakeholders under head 8(c), and not just enterprise, research and innovation Ireland will need a wide range of independent international experts and critical friends. If innovation is going to be an integral part of the new agency then I would urge a richer definition than is currently available under head 3, on interpretation. The current definition runs the risk of encouraging newness in research for its own sake. Just because research has not been done before does not mean that it is innovative, or valuable or will add to knowledge.

I urge Research and Innovation Ireland not just to protect but to go beyond the current schemes for postgraduate researchers, in particular, and to have representation of early career and PhD researchers, who are vital for the success of the proposed research agenda in their committees and sub-committees. My colleagues and I look forward to seeing the new Bill progress, to seeing the agency come to fruition and to working together to advance Ireland’s research and meet Irish and global societal and scientific challenges.