Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this question and for consistently working with me and keeping my Department under good pressure to make sure we do all we can to keep those strong higher education, research and science links that exist between North and South. This is another example of those links.

The Government and I strongly support Northern Ireland’s participation in Horizon Europe, the new framework programme for research and innovation. Researchers and innovators from across the island have worked successfully on previous framework programmes and I want this to continue. As the Deputy will be aware, I am committed to strengthening North-South collaboration in research, and during the summer, the Taoiseach and I launched a €40 million North-South research programme funded from the shared island initiative. This has the potential to be transformational. It will support collaboration among individual researchers, teams and institutions across the island. The programme is currently open for applications, and I am delighted to see the great levels of interest in the programme from across the higher education and research community. My Department is also continuing to work closely with InterTradeIreland to facilitate collaborative opportunities for researchers and innovators that will arise from Horizon Europe.

With respect to the legal process, the principle of the UK's association with the Horizon Europe programme was agreed as part of the overall trade and co-operation agreement and the detailed arrangements are currently being finalised between the European Commission and the UK. Once the UK associates to Horizon Europe, subject to ratification of the overall deal and finalisation of the Horizon Europe programme regulations, association will give researchers and innovators in Northern Ireland access to funding under the programme on equivalent terms as organisations in EU countries. I welcome that and very much want to see that happen.

Furthermore, on an issue I know the Deputy has a great interest in at undergraduate level, the Government has committed to facilitating the continued access to Erasmus mobilities for higher education students in Northern Ireland. Officials in my Department are engaging with their counterparts in the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland on this matter. I am encouraged by the level of interest among students in Northern Ireland on Erasmus. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and I expect to be in a position to make a funding announcement on that shortly.

See this speech in context