Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No 18:

In page 18, line 32, after “years,” to insert “drawing upon the relevant research based stakeholders and in line with international best practice, which will be laid before the relevant Oireachtas Committee(s),”.

This is just about how we look at the proposed five-year review. After "years" what we are looking to insert is "drawing upon the relevant research based stakeholders and in line with international best practice, which will be laid before the relevant Oireachtas Committee". The reality is, no matter what we create, the review has to place firstly and it is important then to be able to hear from all the stakeholders and that is why that should be included in it. It would also obviously be in line with international best practice. It is helpful to put in front of the relevant Oireachtas committee because some people might have louder voices. I do not mean that in terms of sway, just that some people contact us and like to have things discussed in that way as well. Therefore, having input from the Oireachtas committee allows the relevant stakeholders to have a very clear voice. I am not suggesting they will not have a clear voice but sometimes it can be helpful that people can come at this level. Oireachtas committees can be very useful in this particular sense. Allowing stakeholders, especially given the fact that it is going to be new, to have the best possible access to input in that review is really important. I am not suggesting this is not the intention but I also know that sometimes these things can unintentionally happen or that people are not included in a review. That is why this would be very important to include and I think the committee can have a strong part in that.

Regarding amendment No. 20, myself and Deputy Clarke are looking at putting in, between the lines of 10 and 11, "the Royal Irish Academy" and "designated institutions of higher education or their representative bodies". Myself and Deputy Clarke feel the Bill would benefit from that inclusion of consultation with different higher education institutions in the preparation of the corporate plan because he agency should be specifically required to engage and consult with higher education research institutions where much of the publicly-funded research activity takes place and most of the national research experience and expertise resides. That is part of the thinking behind this. I would be interested in the Minister's views on that.