Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill. Research and innovation constitute one of the key aspects of developing a prosperous economy and future. The new agency bringing together two existing agencies and, hopefully, funding them properly and ensuring they have the correct focus is vital.

Many people across the country in third-level education are finding it very difficult, particularly those in PhD courses, who find it very hard to manage. The level of funding available is a significant issue, particularly in research. That was mentioned by other Deputies earlier. There is significant opportunity in this country to build a diverse economy because we have a richness of talent in our third-level sector. In order to be able to do that, it requires an adequate level of funding and resources. This Bill goes a certain distance but we need to ensure this level of funding is in place, particularly for the regions. I know the Atlantic Technological University in my region is always looking for more opportunities and is co-operating and networking with other agencies in various areas to develop and build strength to ensure people can have that opportunity. Very often, they do not have that opportunity and feel very neglected and left behind. I have spoken to many of them with regard to this.

I hope the Minister will recognise that putting legislation in place is not enough. We need to see outcomes and those can only be measured when we have the success people can see in front of them. For many, this is not happening because much of the research and innovation is developed elsewhere. This is one of the key issues. We need to see the development side of this happening in the regions. We produce all these graduates who are very well-educated but there are no jobs for graduates in many areas of the country, particularly in the north west.

Another key issue I come across regularly is accommodation for students. The housing crisis affects every aspect of our society, particularly as regards students. The absence of student accommodation and the difficulties with it in many areas have caused real angst among much of our student population. Last year, a housing estate in Sligo was set up for student accommodation. It got planning permission but then was used to house people from Ukraine. That is fine but it should not involve pushing out people who need accommodation when they are students. That is one of the key things we must ensure does not happen in future. We must have adequate accommodation and funding for our student population so that when people go into research and development, they feel they are properly financed throughout that period and the research they do is properly financed because many of our universities are falling behind on that internationally and nationally. While we welcome this legislation, it must be backed up by proper investment.

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