Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

Ireland is 19th on the global innovation index but we are behind similar-sized countries such as Estonia, Denmark and Finland, which is in seventh place. I asked previously what is Ireland's equivalent to Nokia. In terms of research and development, what are we doing that is Irish born and that is creating jobs on the basis of Irish initiatives rather than international companies coming here?

I welcome the Global Citizens 2030, the Impact 2030 and today's initiative. They are all very welcome. There are a lot of good points if they are implemented, and that is what we have to look at. However, there are a couple of challenges. One of these would be that we are currently facing a major shortage of places for students, especially in our major cities. In terms of attracting students here, is it to get revenue or is it to bring the best and brightest who will contribute to Ireland as an innovation hub? The jury is still out in that regard.

We also have issues regarding accessibility and affordability. I merely want to raise the point that it is not necessarily about innovation; it is about services in our country that need to be looked at.

There is a lack of grants for postgraduates. In the context of the speech and language master's programme, for example, Irish students have to spend up to €30,000. Many of them leave for England to get their master's degrees and some do not come back. We have a major shortage of speech and language therapists. That is merely one example. I have to leave it there because of the time, but I ask the Minister to have a think about it.

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