Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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2. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to address the deficit some domestic universities are experiencing. [26519/25]

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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Some of Ireland's third level institutions are facing a critical shortfall in core funding, something repeatedly highlighted by the OECD, the European Commission and our universities. Despite rising student numbers and growing demands in staff and infrastructure, core funding remains well below the required level to ensure quality, accessibility and efficiency. Can the Minister outline what steps his Department is taking to address this core funding gap, and will he commit to a roadmap towards significantly increasing core investment in our higher education sector?

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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To answer the Deputy's second question, yes, I will commit to increasing funding in education. I have announced that already and brought this before Cabinet where I secured approval to do so.

The National Training Fund is a €1.485 billion pot of moneys which is collected through employer levies to support training and educational needs. There is a need for legislation to unlock that fund because the fund, as it is currently construed, has a particular set of categories under which it can be spent. I wish to broaden them to include core funding for the higher education institutions among other things. This requires a minor legislative change but that is a Bill I intend to bring before the Houses this year. I am currently working on drafting heads of Bill with my Department and legal teams. I secured Cabinet approval for that recently. That will mean an additional €150 million per annum will be included in the core funding to universities, which is a really significant move. This, of course, stems from the Funding the Future framework, which was published in May 2022. It followed the Cassells report from a few years earlier, which identified options available to put higher education on a sustainable footing and examining different options for our core funding for the universities. That is now progressing. It is in the programme for Government and is a commitment we have made. It is something I have already advanced in my first few months in office and, as I said, I have Cabinet approval to now progress that further through legislation, which I hope to bring before the Houses at the earliest opportunity.

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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I acknowledge there is additional funding of €50 million in the budget for 2025 under Funding the Future. It is great to hear there is an additional €150 million. The Irish Universities Association has welcomed the multiannual approach the Minister's Department has outlined.

Investment in education only stands at 2.8% of GDP. It is among the lowest in the OECD, which has an average of 5.7%. I am concerned the financial constraints compromise the quality of education and the well-being of students and staff and it seems contradictory to be attracting foreign talent from abroad when our domestic institutions are in dire need.

I am happy that legislation is going to be progressed with the heads of Bill. I urge the Minister to try to do this as quickly as possible. We will lose talent. The Minister wishes to attract talent from abroad but we cannot lose the talent we have already. Students going abroad is also a difficulty.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I agree with Deputy Cummins. We are very much on the same page on this. With regard to talent from abroad, I want Ireland to be a welcome place for scholars but that includes supporting our own - the people already here - and attracting more. The best-in-class research and innovation, STEM and humanities studies all work best when people collaborate at every level, including internationally, so that we have a fusion of the best minds. It is not recognising borders, barriers or arbitrary rules that other jurisdictions might be currently raising, which I do not agree with. We must be that safe haven and promote independent thought, academic freedom and integrity. As well as it being the right thing to do, there is a significant economic uplift to that. We see money spent on research and innovation, for example, usually has a 5:1 return.

I visited the CÚRAM research centre at the University of Galway last week. It has achieved a 12:1 return. For every euro the State is spending, therefore, €12 is being recouped in terms of the wider economic impact of the research and the economic benefits of it. We should do it for its own sake but it also produces demonstrable returns for investment in education and research.

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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I agree it is really positive when we have those returns, as the Minister outlined. I know that is one element of looking at education. I want to be clear about what I am saying with regard to attracting people from abroad to come here. I am not saying this is not a good idea. However, when the headlines are focusing on how much money is going to be spent on each of those people, it can read as being a little unbalanced. I totally agree that when we have international talent and academics coming here, we are able, with the students in the universities, to see the best that we have internationally. The Minister is right; in this world, which is becoming smaller in a way but is quite divided, we need to try to find ways that we can all work together. The academics coming from abroad and those here need to be welcomed and we need to have the infrastructure in place. I am glad the Minister has clarified that it is not about pitting one against the other, because I was a little bit nervous when I read that. I was thinking that we cannot be attracting others if we have deficits here, but I am glad the Minister clarified that.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. I intend for the funding to support the entire sector. The Deputy mentioned some figures. I would also be a bit concerned by the current level of our research and development spending as a percentage of GDP. We need to increase that. The private sector is spending a lot, so public sector spending needs to increase. That will be reflected in what I am hoping to achieve through the national development plan, in terms of increased infrastructural spending across the research and education ecosystems, further and higher education and the entire tapestry. That is the building block that everything else is based on, if we have those systems right. It is part of the wider base and I will elaborate on that further over the coming months, but I intend to use the national development plan as part of the springboard for those projects.