Dr. Darrin Morrissey:

Since 2015, which was our lowest point in revenue funding, we have had incremental increases in our budget. It is important to acknowledge that, at a time the overarching pot for research funding was not growing apace, the Department of Health was able to provide increased funding. If the 2019 funding comes in, we will be at a revenue level of €34 million within an overarching pot approaching €46 million. There is growth. In addition, the Department is driving some important infrastructural changes within the health research system. These will allow for more efficient and increased research activity in future years and are fixing decades-long systemic issues in the system. For example, a Bill that has received Cabinet approval and whose heads are being developed as we speak deals with the issue of national research ethics, an area that has seen a systemic impediment in the system. With us, the Department may be able to deliver solutions in that regard. Similarly, there was a risk that GDPR would get in the way of research. The health research regulations Bill is a mechanism by which Ireland will be a high-quality location in which to do research in a data sense.

That said, there are many asks on our budget and CTI is only a component of that.