Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

With this Science Week and the Science Weeks in recent years, we can all have a much better appreciation of the work of scientists, researchers, engineers and healthcare professionals who have dedicated themselves to serving people in a multitude of different ways. Through their craft, through their dedication to their talent and through their copious amounts of research, we went from discovery of a virus that traversed our world, causing so much pain, uncertainty and loss, to the creation of a vaccine in less than a year. A scientific miracle of sorts was achieved. Although we are still battling with Covid, the past two years show the scale of what is possible when there are sufficient resources invested and a global focus to tackle a crisis. This is the learning we must take and apply to the other global threat facing us, namely, the climate crisis.

While I want to give thanks and gratitude this week to those working tirelessly in the STEM fields, I want to spend the remainder of my contribution talking about participation in science and who gets access. Earlier this month, we learned that Science Gallery Dublin was facing potential closure in 2022 due to financial issues. I know the Minister and his Department have met its representatives and engaged with Trinity College in the hope of finding solutions to retain the gallery. I want to touch briefly on the gallery and the need for it and maybe others like it in this country. It is a permeable, ever-changing space where science and arts collide, a glass building facing onto Pearse Street, rather than behind the walls of Trinity, its dynamism reflected outwards. It has housed more than 48 exhibitions, welcomed more than 3.8 million visitors and run countless transition year, TY, programmes, all for free. It has been replicated globally as the antithesis of the ivory tower when it comes to research, science and arts. Its loss would be deeply felt in the culture of Dublin and, as well as its preservation, I argue we should be looking to replicate it in other higher education campuses around the country.

While the gallery and events like Science Week do brilliant work in bringing science onto the streets and connecting with citizens, we need to look deeper at what we are doing to ensure everyone not only engages with science, but is able to pursue a scientific career should they choose to do so. We need to democratise not only the participation and knowledge of science, but who gets to become a researcher, a scientist, a doctor or a professor - who gets to set the scientific agenda. The fact of the matter is that it is harder to do a PhD and harder to become a scientist or a researcher if people are not from a background of privilege.

Let me back up that statement. In 2013, the Irish Research Council PhD stipend was €16,000, or just over €1,300 per month. The average monthly asking price for rent in Dublin city centre at that time was €1,050, so it was difficult but technically possible to pursue a PhD and afford rent in our capital then. Today, the Irish Research Council PhD stipend works out at just over €1,500 per month, massively under the average cost of rent in the city centre, which now stands at €2,032, and even falling short of the average rent nationally, which is €1,516 per month, according to the Daft.ie figures released just today. This completely changes who can afford to do a PhD. This factor was replicated in the Higher Education Authority data for 2018 and 2019. Among all enrolments, the PhD cohort was by far the most affluent. That is not a coincidence. It is a necessity because the financial burden of choosing to become a scientist or a researcher is so high currently.

This is not just about a qualification; it is about careers and industries that people are locked out of, not because of talent but because of cost. A few weeks ago, I wrote to the Ministers, Deputy Harris and Deputy Humphreys, on a particular issue that One Family, a charity representing one-parent families, raised with me regarding PhDs. PhD stipends continue to be eligible for means testing, which means some people, like those in one-parent families, who are predominantly women in this country, are faced with having to choose between their PhD stipends or their one-parent family payment. Many, unable to risk the loss of income, are prevented from taking the PhD, a clear poverty trap, or are made to live in an even more precarious situation. I ask the Minister to work on this issue with the Department of Social Protection because it is very important. I thank him for acknowledging that he may do so.

I very much welcome the Minister's efforts and enthusiasm when it comes to changing the CAO, broadening access and producing a republic where everyone, to quote the Minister yesterday, has an opportunity to reach their full potential. However, I ask the Minister whether the potential stops at a degree course. All our efforts and attention are on the point of entry or pre-entry. We need to have more foresight and realise that the barriers do not disappear after a degree. While we are talking of broadening access, can we have the ambition and will to broaden it further because, otherwise, we are limiting potential?

Take, for example, students with disabilities, an issue I know to be close to the Minister's heart. Although we have made steady progress over the years with increased representation of students with disabilities studying at undergraduate level, we have not seen those same gains in postgraduate study. In 2011, students with disability accounted for 5.1% of the total undergraduate student population and this has increased to 7.2% in 2019. In 2011, students with disabilities accounted for 2.5% of the total postgraduate student population and it still remains at 2.5% in the latest figures for 2019-20. We are not only seeing no growth in the overall percentage of postgraduate students with a disability, but we are seeing a bigger drop of representation between undergraduates and postgraduates. Students with disabilities are being locked out of furthering their careers and becoming researchers and scientists.

Retaining these barriers and losing this talent is to our own detriment. Scientific discovery, advancement and progress cannot be restricted to only one type of person and one type of background. We need researchers with disabilities, we need scientists who come from working-class and migrant backgrounds and we need female and non-binary professors in our colleges and universities.

I want to end my contribution by thanking all of those working in STEM to advance their knowledge and understanding of our world. I reiterate that we in Ireland require a diversity of experience and backgrounds in STEM fields to make better science, yes, but also fairer access to careers and a just democracy.

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