Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move:

"That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I thank the Acting Chair for this opportunity to address the House and introduce Second Stage of the Research and Innovation Bill. The purpose of this Bill is to provide for the establishment of a new research and innovation funding agency, to be called Taighde Éireann. The Bill provides for the dissolution of Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, and the amalgamation of SFI and the Irish Research Council, IRC, to create the new agency. The purpose of this Bill is to create an agency with the capacity to address the very real issues we face as a society, in particular with regard to climate change and the digital transition, and to enable us to better engage and compete at an international level in terms of the opportunities ahead of us.

The Bill will give Taighde Éireann the ability to support a cohesive research and innovation system, thus providing the clarity of a shared mission. In so doing, we want to ensure that research and innovation is conducted using the highest standards of excellence, ethics and integrity across all disciplines and all career stages in all types of research. We want to provide a high quality system where higher education providers, research-performing organisations, cultural and social entities, enterprise and government can communicate and plan effectively. We want to break down any barriers to access and advance equality, diversity and inclusion and to ensure that each member of our society can be represented and can participate in and benefit from research that addresses their needs and their priorities.

The new agency is a vital step towards achieving the overarching objective of Impact 2030 - Ireland's Research and Innovation Strategy. This seeks to ensure that Ireland's collective research and innovation investments and activities make as big a difference as possible to as many people as possible. Impact 2030 is about pulling the strands of the research and innovation system together into a cohesive and purposeful network to progress objectives that are shared across Government, across the education system and across stakeholder groups.

The strategy puts research and innovation at the heart of Ireland's economic and social development for the foreseeable future in addressing our social, economic and environmental challenges. The purpose of the strategy is to maximise the impact of research and innovation on national priorities, on progressing shared objectives and on using research and innovation to inform public policymaking and implementation. Creating efficiencies and limiting the duplication of activities is also a significant aim of this process.

Deputies will appreciate our need to nurture and attract world-class research talent to retain our position as an advanced economy and to ensure that we continue to be recognised internationally for our research and innovation excellence, ethics and integrity. These goals are captured in the objects and functions of Taighde Éireann. The new agency will build on the strengths of both the IRC and SFI to ensure effective support of all disciplines. The Bill will place arts, humanities and social sciences on an equal and statutory footing for the first time. This is an important moment. Not many people necessarily know this, but the Irish Research Council, which does incredible work, does not exist on a statutory footing, so I say to the arts, humanities and social science research community that this is the first time we are actually providing that parity of esteem by placing those elements on a statutory footing, rather than the incredible work the IRC has done but on a non-statutory footing. It is an important step towards parity of esteem, access to research funding and greater consistency for this research community.

In addition, it will enhance the role of arts, humanities and social sciences in contributing to interdisciplinary and challenge-based research, which is essential to make progress on complex problems. Researchers in these disciplines will be able to lead teams in their own right for the very first time. The new agency will ensure parity of esteem not only between disciplines, but also between career stages and research types.

I recognise and understand that people have concerns about losing the strength or brand recognition of SFI and the IRC, as well as the competence and expertise of their staff. These are crucial strengths upon which to further develop the public research funding system.

Every effort is being made to protect those strong reputations built up over years of excellent work. The expertise, dedication and professionalism of their staff lie at the heart of the existing organisations’ performance and will be central to the success of the new agency. Operational stability and continuity of service to the research community will be a priority during the transition.

I will now move to the text of the Bill. This Bill will enable the creation of a new research and innovation funding agency, Taighde Éireann, or Research Ireland. The agency will contribute to the realisation of the programme for Government, national development plan and Impact 2030 policy aims of creating a cohesive and efficient national research and innovation system with the capacity to address national challenges and embrace new opportunities. The Bill provides a legal basis for the functions of Taighde Éireann and the role of the Minister. The agency will be responsible for securing the achievement of Government objectives for the research and innovation system and for ensuring accountability and value for money in the use of public funds. This Bill repeals Part 2 of the Industrial Development (Science Foundation Ireland) Act 2003, sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Industrial Development (Science Foundation Ireland) (Amendment) Act 2013 and sections 11, 12 and 13 of the Industrial Development (Forfás Dissolution) Act 2014. The Bill revokes the Science Foundation Ireland superannuation scheme 2016, SI 594 of 2016.

Before I outline the specifics in this Bill, I will state the objectives of the new agency, which are important. They are: to promote the attainment and maintenance of excellence in the standard and quality of research and innovation undertaken; to support the undertaking of research and innovation in all fields of activity and disciplines by researchers with different levels of knowledge, experience and specialist skills in such fields or disciplines; to promote and support the contribution made by research and innovation to economic, social, cultural and environmental development and sustainability in the State; to strengthen the engagement of the research and innovation system with the Government, Ministers of the Government and bodies, whether statutory or otherwise, funded wholly or partly by public moneys and enterprise, non-governmental organisations, cultural institutions and society generally; to promote and develop the reputation of the State internationally as a location favourable for undertaking research and innovation; and to advance the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion with regard to opportunities to undertake research and innovation and in the undertaking of that research and innovation.

I will now outline the specific parts and key sections of the Bill. Sections 1 to 5 are standard provisions relating to the Short Title and commencement, interpretation, regulations, orders, expenses, repeals and revocation. Sections 6 and 7 deal with the establishment day and the establishment of the new agency. Section 8 lists the objects or key principles that apply to Taighde Éireann when undertaking its functions, which we have already spoken about. Section 9 lists the functions of Taighde Éireann. They are to: promote the objects of the agency; promote and develop research and innovation in the State by designing and administering funding schemes in accordance with international good practice for the award and disbursement of funding for research and innovation in accordance with Part 3; support the development and maintenance of a national system of research and innovation in co-operation and collaboration with An tÚdarás um Ard-Oideachais, Enterprise Ireland and the other bodies to which section 48 applies and such other persons and bodies in the higher education and research system or the research and innovation system as the agency considers appropriate; promote research and innovation which supports the development and competitiveness of enterprise and employment in the State, nationally and regionally, in co-operation and collaboration with Enterprise Ireland and the other bodies to which section 48 applies; promote the engagement, retention and development of the skills and capacity of researchers of an excellent standard in the national system of research and innovation and, as may be appropriate, to do so in co-operation with the HEA and other bodies to which section 48 applies; promote the attracting to the State of research and innovation teams of an excellent standard and individuals with an interest in research and innovation of an excellent standard with a view to carrying out research and innovation in the State. In co-operation with an t-údarás, its functions are to: promote and support the undertaking of research and innovation in the higher education and research system and in the research and innovation system; contribute to the development, assessment and evaluation of research and innovation to ensure that a standard and quality of excellence are consistently adhered to by those in the research and innovation system; promote the links and mutual benefits between research and innovation undertaken and teaching and learning activities in the higher education system; promote the success of research and innovation undertaken in the State which is supported by awards of funding made by an international or European Union body, institution or organisation; promote co-operation and collaboration with regard to research and innovation between those who fund or undertake research and innovation in the State and those who do so in Northern Ireland; assess and evaluate the outcomes and, where appropriate, the impact on economic, social, cultural and environmental development and sustainability grounds of research and innovation undertaken, for which funding is awarded by the agency; promote and support awareness and understanding of the value of research and innovation to society and facilitate the engagement of members of the public with those engaged in research and innovation activities; support the undertaking of research and innovation that informs the development of public policy and encourages and facilitates the collation and sharing of findings of research and innovation for that purpose; enter into funding partnerships; and advise the Minister in relation to national policy on research and innovation in accordance with section 14.

Section 10 provides standard provisions for the appointment of consultants, advisers and assessors. Sections 11 to 14 provide that the Minister may give directions and issue guidelines in writing to the agency, that the agency shall provide reports and information to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science on any matter related to the performance of the functions of the new agency; and that the agency may provide advice to the Minister on any matter related to the performance of its functions. Sections 15 to 21 relate to the board of the new agency. These are standard provisions that the agency shall have a board established under this Bill to perform the functions of the agency. Board appointments will be made by the Minister and will be competency-based. The board will have 12 members comprising a chairperson and 11 ordinary members with gender balance and including at least one member nominated by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The board may establish committees, to be known as councils, to advise it about the performance of its functions. Sections 22 to 27 provide for a grant to the agency each year from funds provided by the Oireachtas; the preparation and adoption by the agency of a corporate plan every five years; an annual plan to be prepared by the agency; the keeping of accounts by the agency; the audit of these accounts by the Comptroller and Auditor General; the laying of the accounts and report on the accounts before each House of the Oireachtas; and the preparation of an annual report by the agency by 30 June each year and the laying of that report before the Houses of the Oireachtas and gifts to the agency from any other sources. Sections 28 to 31 are standard provisions in relation to the role of the chief executive officer of the agency. Sections 32 to 34 are standard provisions in relation to the staff of the agency including superannuation and prohibition of unauthorised disclosure by members of staff of the agency of confidential information except where required by law or as a protected disclosure. Part 3 deals with arrangements for the funding of research and innovation. Sections 35 to 48 outline requirements around funding partnerships engaged in by the agency and arrangements with Ministers concerning collaboration on research and innovation. Section 48 deals with administrative co-operation with other bodies.

The agency shall prepare and establish a framework, with the approval of the Minister, for the allocation of funding. Funding to bodies shall be made in accordance with such conditions of funding as specified by the chief executive officer of the agency. The chief executive officer of the agency may request and use information provided by other bodies to establish whether a research programme meets the criteria, terms and conditions of the funding framework and to ensure a funded body is compliant on an ongoing basis with the conditions of funding. The chief executive officer may request a review of compliance with conditions of funding by a funded body and may issue appropriate directions in writing regarding continued compliance with the conditions of funding. The chief executive officer may impose remedial or other measures on the funded body for non-compliance with the agreed conditions of funding.

Part 4 consists of Sections 49 and 50, which provide for the collection and sharing of personal and non-personal data from funded bodies subject to the data protection regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Data Sharing and Governance Act 2019. Part 5 deals with transitional, consequential and miscellaneous considerations. Sections 51 to 60 outline the processes and obligations around the dissolution of SFI, including the transfer of staff, property, contracts, records, rights and liabilities of the dissolved body and arrangements for the final accounts and final annual report of the dissolved body. References in enactments or instruments to the dissolved body are also dealt with. Sections 61 to 65 deal with the transfer of staff, records, rights, and liabilities from an t-údarás to the new agency. Section 66 provides for necessary amendments of the Higher Education Authority Act 2022 to include references to the new agency and to facilitate co-operation between the HEA and the new agency. Section 67 amends Schedule 5 to the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 to include Taighde Éireann in the list of specified bodies. Section 68 details the process for the service of notices from the agency.

I should highlight that my Department intends to bring forward some technical amendments on Committee Stage. They will be operational in nature and will not impact the policy intent of the legislation as I described it. That is the content of the Bill. There is a lot of technical detail in the establishment of a new agency. We are trying to create a new, national funding agency that builds on the incredible strengths of SFI and the IRC and puts on a statutory footing for the first time all elements of research. It tries to bring about parity of esteem and recognises that more and more, when we look at things through a research and innovation lens, it requires interdisciplinary work. It requires the arts and humanities working with other elements of science. We are learning from best practice in a number of other jurisdictions. I look forward to working with members from all sides of this House to get this legislation right in the time ahead.

We promised a transformational programme of research and development and we want Ireland to be at the cutting edge of scientific and technological innovation. I know that is something we all share. In terms of delivery, the purpose-specific interdisciplinary research centres have been established. We now have our co-centre programmes, which are really exciting because for the very first time on this island, and, indeed, on our neighbouring island, we will all start working together on some of the big challenges. As Members will know, we have created two of these co-centre programmes to support collaborative research partnerships across Ireland, Britain and Northern Ireland, creating virtual centres of excellence which link researchers across academia and industry to perform cutting-edge research on shared priorities. Linkages between research and enterprise, with a particular focus on encouraging collaboration with domestic SMEs, have also been extended. We have increased the PhD stipend, and intend to go further on that because we have to support our researchers. Next month, I will publish the final report of the independent review on PhD researchers and how we support them not just through the stipend but also a whole variety of issues that needed to be looked at, many of which cut across a number of Departments. I look forward to publishing that final report next month and working with the House on how we take action.

However, the most important and the flagship of these commitments regarding research and innovation is the establishment of this new research funding agency, Taighde Éireann. The legislation before us creates an agency designed to support the emerging research and innovation needs of society and to build on the highly regarded and successful research and innovation participation in the EU and internationally. The aims are ambitious because, as a country, we need to be. We are facing challenges before us with clear-eyed realism but also with a sense of hope and optimism. We know our brightest and best will enable us to meet these challenges. They proved their mettle during the pandemic. We have a template in place and this involves the most intelligent, innovative, talented, creative, hard-working people in our country collaborating with their peers and colleagues across disciplines and research stages, sharing knowledge, learning and skills, accelerating developments and working together on forcing solutions for the issues we face as a country.

I am very conscious, as we establish a new agency, that colleagues in this House and people in the research community will quite rightly point to the need to meet the ambition of agency with an ambitious level of funding and I assure this House, both in terms of increasing PhD stipends and finishing the journey there and the need for an ambitious capital programme around research, work is under way on my part to deliver this as part of the ongoing capital review. This agency will make a significant impact to Ireland's economic, social, cultural and environmental development and sustainability by targeting funding to these priority issues and by setting up challenge-funding calls to ensure the greatest possible impact. I look forward to working with everyone in both Houses to pass this legislation and to establish Taighde Éireann.

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