Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are a few points to make on this. We discussed this on Committee Stage, so I do not necessarily want to go over all the relevant points again. I had more amendments but they were not taken. I came back with the concept of a report because it is something we could achieve. It can be and is done. Considering that Members' concerns were not addressed through the acceptance of their amendments, having a report could put their minds at ease. If the Minister is correct regarding there being full parity of esteem and it is ensured that there are researchers from a broad range of fields on the board, it will be all well and good, but if these criteria are not met it can be looked into in producing the report. Perhaps this could be worked on during the four-year period.

I wish to refer to a point mentioned by Deputy Boyd Barrett and discussed by us on Committee Stage, namely the impossibility of putting a monetary value on certain things. Research is not all about that. I gave the powerful example of someone who does drama work with children having to fill out forms showing the monetary value of the work. The concept is that the children's happiness has no monetary worth. What Deputy Boyd Barrett said was very powerful.

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