Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will be aware of the pre-legislative scrutiny of the research and innovation Bill, which is before the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science at the moment. This Bill has been broadly welcomed across the sector. We in this country know the importance of research and innovation. We have new players now within the tertiary education system and that is our technological universities. However, they are curtailed in their participation in research both due to the contracts the lecturers are operating under, with the preponderance of teaching hours, and the availability of professorships within the technological universities. What plans does the Minister have to upscale and maximise the huge research potential that exists in this new technological university sector?

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