Professor Diarmuid Hegarty:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to make this presentation. It is obviously very important for us in the Higher Education Colleges Association, as a relatively young institution and one which is new to research, to be able to make this submission. The purpose of my presentation is to emphasise the importance of creating a balanced and inclusive research ecosystem. There are four points I want to make. The first is on the importance of research in young institutions and the second is on the EU policy on access to EU funding which differs significantly from current Irish policy. I would also like to ask a question about the definition of "institutions" appearing in head 3 of the Bill. I will then summarise quickly the proposed amendments we would like to see made to the Bill.

I cannot emphasise enough the importance of research to our institutions. Without a research function, for instance, our students would have difficulty progressing to doctorates and we would also have difficulty in securing delegated authority. We anticipate that we will have delegated authority at bachelor and master's level. Ultimately, our ambition would be to have it at doctorate level but we need a significant research function within our institutions for that. The other point is that the young institutions have a different, probably more commercial, approach. It is in the interests of the national system to encourage their involvement.

The EU policy on access to EU research is somewhat different from the Irish policy. I have included in my submission in appendix 3 a list of the organisations offering research funding in Ireland. Of those, a number do not permit the private institution to act as the lead co-ordinator, called the project co-ordinator. They can act as a support and in a support function as what is called a project beneficiary in Ireland but in Europe the elite function is open to all. In fact, currently one of our institutions is acting as project beneficiary in two research functions and has recently applied to act as co-ordinator in another. It is all open in the EU, whereas some institutions in Ireland, particularly the Irish Research Council, restrict the involvement of private institutions.

We are not eligible to be members of the Irish Research Council and that effectively closes the door of research from that.

If I may go on to the definition of "institutions", there is a definition in head 3 of the draft Bill. It defines a designated institution of the Higher Education Authority and then says, "in this Bill [referred] to ... as "institutions"". I am not sure whether that definition works in reverse. In other words, are we saying that institutions that will receive support of the research funding organisations have to be HEA-designated institutions? If that is the case, it is simply not possible for us at this point in time because HEA designated institution status is provided for in the HEA Act and the procedure has not been implemented.

The next point I would like to make is about amendments. Essentially, we would like to see a specific amendment in the objects to include an object to support private institutions. We would also like to see an allocation of the competitive research and innovation funding to support young research institutions. We would also like to see the various research institutions encouraged to work closely to encourage private education providers to develop their research function. Our strength to date has been in teaching. We need, in fact, for the benefit of our students and for the benefit of the development of institutions, to add a strong research function and we need support for that.

The other point I would make, if I may, is on the partnerships. We would like to see specific focus by the proposed body, research and innovation Ireland, RII, on partnerships with private institutions and the evaluation and monitoring reference in the Bill should include monitoring the impact of support for private higher education institutions.

If these proposals are accepted, it will help to address the current disparities that exist in the application of research funding and will tend to level the playing field.

I thank the Chair. Apologies, I think I stole back some of the time I lost at the beginning.