Professor Jane Ohlmeyer:

I do not want to repeat what has been said but perhaps I will say a few things that have not been said. I would like to make a point around the formulation of research policy, because with Brexit Ireland loses a very important ally in Brussels, and this could shape the future development of the research and education agenda. That is something that we need to be extremely mindful of as we are having these conversations.

I would like to focus for a moment on shaping Ireland as the country of choice for the best researchers, because it would be useful to remind ourselves that we have a tremendous opportunity here. To echo what Dr. Love has just said, we may not be ready now, but with relatively modest investment we could well be ready within the next 18 months. We need to focus on investment in the window that we have. The truth is that our research ecosystem is currently very unbalanced as a result of austerity, and that our higher education institutions are chronically under-funded. If we are willing to accept that and actually invest we can create an environment that is extremely attractive to researchers who are refugees from Brexit, and also refugees from Trump's America. I realise that that is not the focus of our discussions today. It is about being a magnet for global talent not just talent displaced by Brexit. However, that means investment in the research ecosystem, encompassing applied research and, importantly, basic frontier research. I draw attention to the fact that the Minister for Education, Deputy Bruton, has earmarked money to allow the Irish Research Council to develop a frontiers programme, which we very much hope will attract global talent, including talent from the UK, as well as support our own researchers to be better placed to compete, especially in drawing down Horizon 2020 funding.

What would success look like? How do we know that we have actually done something significant here? What that means for me is increased draw-down of European funding, through Horizon 2020 and the European Research Council. That will be one big indicator. If we invest now our draw-down will increase. The global rankings of Irish universities will be improved. Nobody has mentioned that, but as much as we all hate them they are a reality we are stuck with. They are extremely influential in terms of people deciding to come to Ireland and invest in Ireland. If we can attract the best researchers we will without a doubt improve the rankings of our institutions, which then increases our global profile.

I would like to echo the point that Dr. Love made that Ireland has poor visibility globally. However, if we attract the best researchers, educators and students internationally, that really helps to mark us out as an educational and research hub of global significance. For me, that is the prize. With focused investment over the next 18 months all of this is achievable. I am coming at this from a research perspective, but the whole thing is an integrated ecosystem. We cannot just invest in one bit - we have to start at the bottom.