Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. He is aware of the short-term benefits, introduced in the budget in terms of one-off payments or increases to the stipend baseline, so I will not waste time on that. I accept we need to do more. We need to retain talent in Ireland and we need to attract talent to Ireland. I have engaged with many PhD students and postgraduate students, and as recently as yesterday I met a group of researchers with disabilities led by Dr. Vivian Rath.

The key thing we need to do is to have a proper evidence-based review of the stipend and the income supports, but also how they are classified in terms of the balance of students versus employees. I agree that question needs to be settled. I had an interesting discussion with a group of PhD researchers who referenced countries that have good practice for PhD researchers, some of whom are treated as students and some of whom are classified as employees, so it would be interesting to see the evidence on that and how it pans out.

I have decided that the review will be external and I have appointed two external co-chairs, Dr. Andrea Johnson and David Cagney. The scope of the review, as I said, is quite broad. It will look at current PhD researcher supports, including financial supports, stipends, SUSI supports and other supports. It will look at the adequacy, consistency and equity of current arrangements across research funders and higher education institutions, including equity and welfare considerations, at the status of PhD researchers, student or employee, including a review of international comparators and models, and at graduate outcomes. It will also look at visa requirements and duration for non-EU students, which I am coming across as a real issue for many students researchers and their families. The review will be informed by a robust evidence base and will be completed in 2023. The first job of the review will be to engage directly with PhD researchers and I will make sure, as a result of the Deputy's question, that the unions and alliances he has referenced hear from the co-chairs.

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