Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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89. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to improve the working conditions for PhD researchers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26992/21]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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What are the Minister's plans to improve the working conditions for PhD students? PhD researchers need to have their work recognised. They deserve rights and conditions that reflect the contribution they make to education and research. The recently published general scheme of the Higher Education Authority Bill contains no mention of a role for the reformed HEA to promote better conditions for early career researchers.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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That is not an oversight. The Bill relates specifically to how the Higher Education Authority will interact with the institutions, but I am happy to examine that with the Deputy in the pre-legislative scrutiny.

Postgraduate programmes comprise a range of elements designed to further the training and development of students. PhD students, in addition to conducting research, participate in other activities, including teaching, to develop generic and transferable skills. A range of activities can be included under the teaching contribution, such as taking tutorial groups, demonstrating at practical classes, co-supervising undergraduate projects and student mentoring. Officials from my Department and the HEA, at my request, have been collecting information from all the higher education institutions on these practices, because the Deputy raised this with me previously, as well as information from a number of research funding agencies on any terms and conditions they specify when allocating grants to PhD students.

The Higher Education Authority and Quality Qualifications Ireland co-chair the national advisory forum for Ireland's framework for doctoral education. Membership of the forum also comprises representatives of the higher education institutions, research funding organisations, representatives of the university and the technological sector, student representatives and the Department. Examination of relevant issues raised in respect of PhD students arising from the information obtained on current practices will be undertaken by a sub-group of the advisory forum, so we are collating the information and asking the advisory forum to consider it. We are specifically asking it to look at what happens in Ireland in light of international best practice in this area - how we benchmark what we do with others. The outcome of this analysis will help guide and inform consideration of next steps and any policy decisions I may make on this issue. In parallel with this process, I am continuing to meet research funders, researchers, higher education institutions and other stakeholders to explore the potential for improvements.

My Department at my request, and indeed somewhat at the Deputy's request because she has raised this previously, is currently collating the information. We will send it to the national advisory group which will advise on any further actions that need to be taken and will benchmark it against international best practice.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome that and I thank the Minister for it. I also welcome the announcement of the additional investment from the Irish Research Council. The postgraduate stipend is increased from €16,000 to €18,500 per annum and funding for postdoctoral researchers also increased. However, the €18,500 is still below the minimum wage. The Irish Research Council does not mean all PhD researchers.

Apprentices get contracts of employment and are members of unions. They are paid a percentage share of a fully qualified tradesperson's wage which increases each year as they gain experience. There is something to learn from that. The PhD researchers have no contract of employment, no collective bargaining rights, no sick leave, no maternity leave or no paternity pay. I ask the Minister to take all those matters into consideration in his review. Low-paid, precarious work has spread rapidly in higher education since Fine Gael came into power in 2011. That is not Sinn Féin's fault.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy got me back for my comments on the last question. On the issue of precarious employment, I addressed the Irish Federation of University Teachers annual conference virtually last week and I specifically highlighted how we intend to address precarious employment as part of our discussion on sustainable funding. As we invest more in higher education, and it is an investment, it is only right and proper that the State expects more in terms of decent employment contracts being issued. That is a fair point.

With regard to the actions I will take in this regard, I will feed in the suggestions the Deputy has made to that process. We will have the additional information that is being collected from the higher education institutions, so we will have a full picture of what is happening. I do not mean this in a dismissive way, but we have heard individual examples and anecdotes, and they are important, but it is important that we map out and have a good picture of everything that is happening. A sub-group of the national advisory forum will consider, analyse, internationally benchmark and will report back to me. I will be happy to share the findings with the Deputy and actively engage with her on them.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for that. The situation with precarious working conditions for those working in third level institutions is unacceptable on two fronts. First, there is the economic disadvantage and financial stress in which it puts people.

It also gives the message to our students that it is okay to work in an environment where one is treated like that. We must stop it.

Will the Minister, as a part of the review, put researchers and PhD students with disabilities front and centre? I ask him to consult them and make sure their voices are heard within that review because they face extra challenges. They have an enormous contribution to make and we must enable them to make that contribution and ensure their rights are upheld.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I certainly will do that and I fully agree with the Deputy in that regard. I have had some engagement with PhD researchers with disabilities and I would be happy to intensify that contact and do more. I thank the Deputy for acknowledging the fact that we have increased the stipend. That is a signal of intent and wanting to do more on research, which requires more researchers and an attractive and decent place for researchers to carry out their work. We have also increased SUSI supports for postgraduate students. This is the general direction of travel that we want to take. I am genuinely eager to see the outcome of the work of the subgroup because I accept more needs to be done in this area. I also accept that it is a fine line between fulfilling the educational importance of these programmes and the differentiation between education and work. At the same time, we should strive to be best in class in this area. We want Ireland to be a leader in research and that involves investing in our best and brightest. Any recommendations for how we can make further improvements will certainly be acted upon and taken seriously by me.