Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that the Deputy raises this issue with me regularly. Every year since I became Minister, we have made improvements to PhD stipends, and rightly so because they are not where they need to be. The first change we made was to address a bizarre discrepancy that existed between the stipend for a PhD researcher with the Irish Research Council and that for a PhD researcher with Science Foundation Ireland. In last year's budget, the stipend was increased by €500 for both SFI and the IRC, bringing stipends in Ireland to €19,000, and under the budget delivered in recent weeks, I have secured funding to increase the PhD stipend provided by the competitive funding agencies under my Department to €22,000 per student per annum, an increase of €3,000.

I acknowledge clearly, and am not in any way reneging from the fact, that the independent report I commissioned recommends getting to €25,000. Anybody reading the report honestly will also recognise, however, that that may not be done in one go, and the report recognises that clearly as well. I do not want PhD researchers to think this is the end of the matter; it is not. The Government remains committed to getting to €25,000. We have gone from €19,000 to €22,000 and I hope to finish the job by getting from €22,000 to €25,000 in future budgets.

The Deputy asked why this applies only to funding agencies under my remit. I can direct and instruct only those agencies under my remit, but I hope others will follow suit. My understanding is the Health Research Board, HRB, is already ahead of the €22,000 and that Teagasc and individual universities will now consider this. Of course, they have until January before that PhD stipend comes in.

I have received the final review from the co-chairs. The Deputy will recall they gave us one report, which related largely to stipends, and another report was due. I have received that and am working my way through it with my officials. I am putting in place a work programme to see how we can progress the recommendations and I hope to be in a position to publish that in the coming weeks.

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