Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I do not propose to take the full 20 minutes allocated in this slot. The speaker after me on the list might be listening to proceedings and may come to the Chamber.

I welcome the Bill. It is a progressive step forward for a country like ours, which, in global terms, is relatively small. It is only right that we have one strong agency overseeing the funding resources to ensure all the disciplines are funded. That is, in essence, what is being created under the Bill. I am seeking today a greater sense of security or certainty around the humanities and social sciences in particular.

The Minister stated in his introduction:

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... [ensuring] parity of esteem, access to research funding and greater consistency for this research community.

I take him absolutely at his word in this regard. I am seeking clarity on where in the Bill are the specific provisions that reflect those words of his. I would be grateful if he would deal with that in his reply. I think there will be agreement in the House that it could be perceived that people in what I call the non-applied areas in the humanities and social sciences may feel a sense of worry about this legislation. I imagine postdoctoral and other researchers in the applied humanities and social sciences will see potential opportunities and the Minister's words will give them some comfort. However, in the non-applied space, I seek some comfort from him as to where those people stand within our research infrastructure and within the higher education institutions, HEIs. That is the second point on which I am seeking clarity.

The third point relates to composition of the board of the new agency. It is notable that Professor Philip Nolan was appointed to the body, which is to be known as Taighde Éireann - Research Ireland, long before it has even been established. That appointment was well signposted within the community. I have spoken to many long-suffering researchers - I describe them as such because of the challenges they face in seeking access to funding - who thought this was all a done deal. It is good that we are now promulgating the legislation and dealing in real time with the factual position that the new entity has not yet been established. That is now a matter of record here in the Dáil. It certainly was the perception of many people within the research community that its establishment was already done and dusted.

Professor Nolan, who attended a meeting of the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science last year, is an eminent person. I think we will all agree there is no better person to lead the new agency. We wish him well. I take the opportunity to acknowledge the professionalism of the staff in SFI, whom I have had the pleasure of dealing with historically, and also the staff of the IRC. They are absolutely brilliant people. When Professor Nolan was asked at the committee about the composition of the board of the new agency, he replied:

I will very briefly go back to diversity and breadth of skills. What the board needs to be able to do is deliver a strategy that is internationally credible and competitive, whereby peers internationally would say that agency is going to deliver for its country and we respect it. It needs to be able to allocate the funding in a manner that is entirely based on the quality of the proposal and not swayed by any other consideration, and it needs to provide for the good governance of a public agency so that there is no question about propriety, value for money and so on within the operations of the agency. That brings us back to the fact that a broad range of skills is required on the board. To my mind, that would include largely international representation of active researchers to say we know how research is done internationally and this is a valid strategy and a valid allocation of funding.

That is all laudable and nobody would disagree with those aspirations. Where the Labour Party needs clarity is on the question of whether there will be a specific person appointed on the humanities and social sciences side who falls within that remit. Will there be a voice on the board to speak for the humanities and social sciences? I do not mean to quote Professor Nolan out of context but he made that statement when he was before the Oireachtas committee. I am not sure whether I got enough comfort from his words about the composition of the board in regard to the appointment of a specific person to deal with and advocate for funding for the humanities and social sciences. That is the third point on which I seek further clarity from the Minister.

I cannot talk about the creation of this new entity, which we welcome, without mentioning the news reports in the past 24 to 48 hours regarding the €11.2 million deficit that University College Cork, UCC, is currently running. Emma O'Kelly of RTÉ reported:

Professor John O'Halloran [the president] said the college had notified the Higher Education Authority and was working with it to return the university to a sustainable financial position. A review of capital projects will form part of this plan.

While this issue is not germane to the legislation, it could have an impact.

If HEIs are running deficits and need to bring them down, my fear is that, aside from capital projects, the squeeze will be put on headcount and resources. The Minister will be able to clarify that for me.

I fear for UCC if it tries to take out €11.2 million, which represents 2.4% of the institution's income. I do not what know the value of the projects referred to by the president of the college but if it is less than €11.2 million, savings will have to be found elsewhere. The fear I have for postdoctoral students, those on precarious contracts or those who operate within schools or departments in universities is that we will not see people going from below-the-bar lecturer status to senior lecturer. We will not see promotions or progression. Eventually, we will have a situation such as that which exists now right across the board. This is a scenario where fewer and fewer people are doing more and more work, managing schools across the HEIs. We are not seeing enough people being hired or allowed to progress. If we are to be world class and measure up to the principles of excellence in research, we need to get access to the big funding to meet what are called the grand societal challenges. However, if researchers are hampered or there is a downward pressure on progression and researchers having good careers that allow them to apply for funding, then this is all for naught.

I do not think we can address this legislation without talking about the challenges that individual researchers and schools within HEI's are facing on a day-to-day basis. I would be very grateful if the Minister could give us some sense of his and the Government's thinking on this because I think it dovetails with the Bill.

I welcome the legislation. If we can get some comfort from the Minister regarding the humanities and social sciences in the non-applied space, the composition of the board and the issue of the deficit, I would be very happy.

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