Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The group that got the increase, which is far less than they asked for and which would leave them still below the living wage, comprises a small minority of PhD researchers. The Minister should know this. The vast majority of PhD researchers are not in receipt of the stipends the Minister refers to and will not benefit.

There is no additional money for even that group in the budget. They are wondering where it is. What about the rest of them? There are 10,000 PhD researchers and they are really struggling. I have said this and I will say it again because, to me, it is important. One can choose to give research and development money for Apple to develop the iPhone 16.5 or whatever it is, or one could give it to our public universities to do research that might benefit society as a whole. I know which choice I would make. The Minister did not give me an answer about the most recent figure for the expenditure that is already going to research.