Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I genuinely thank every Member who has contributed to the debate. I will respond as best I can and some very valid points have been raised. If I do not respond to all of them, I will be happy to respond again on another day, with the permission of the House.

Let me begin with the dialogue that has emerged on basic research as opposed to applied research. It has been said we cannot take the foot off the pedal with regard to basic research. The Higgs boson analogy is drawn upon regularly, but it is somewhat tired at this stage. To be blunt, it is normally informed by those who have not really read the fine print. There is no danger that we will take the foot off the pedal in funding basic research. We must provide context. On 25 January SFI announced a fund worth ¤60 million covering basic research, computer-assisted neurosurgery, animation, inflammatory diseases, hepatitis C, ICT, tissue engineering, chemistry, biofilms, microbiology, carbon sequestration, farm waste for bioenergy, etc. It is incorrect to imply we are taking the foot off the pedal in this regard. The remit of SFI is very clear. It is important, however, that when the country is going through a period of economic turmoil, we seek to ensure taxpayers' money is invested to achieve the greatest societal and economic outputs. That is what we were trying to achieve. Advancing the remit of SFI is part of what I call the stage-gate process.

We acknowledge the role of Dr. Harris and previous Governments in this area. It is an apolitical space. It is a space in which the only differences of emphasis might pertain to whether one funds, with taxpayers' money, basic or applied research. In the past ten or 15 years emphasis was placed on building capacity, human capital and putting bricks and mortar in place through the programme for research in third level institutions. It is now a question of being in the top ten in the areas I outlined in my opening remarks. It is a question of recognising that we must now move to a new stage of excellence. We must not take the foot off the pedal; rather, we must prioritise the relevant areas.

It must be remembered that funding for Science Foundation Ireland is approximately ¤150 million. The Higher Education Authority budget is approximately ¤1.02 billion. Senator Clune spoke about the 14 key areas of research prioritisation. I chair the prioritisation action group whose purpose is to provide action plans for the key areas of priority so that we can fund those areas and bring industry engagement into new areas of opportunity to maximise economic and societal output. We must bear in mind that the budget line for the 14 areas is approximately ¤440 million. There is a large tranche of money available for research from other sources.

I agree with Senator Barrett that we must have some degree of flexibility. That is why as the Minister of State with responsibility for research, I am leading a conversation whose end point is a well-rounded view of the landscape such that the Irish Research Council talks to Science Foundation Ireland, to the Health Research Board and the HEA and that everybody is moving in one direction with consensus. We can then ensure that there is flexibility built into the system such that we find mechanisms or small pots of money to fund the perceived outliers who are doing niche, blue-sky or esoteric research which is no less important to, and legitimate in, our society. Impact is the key factor. We no longer fund for the sake of funding but on the basis that those people in those areas can prove that there is an impact whether economic or societal.

That does not exclude the basic research scientists. For example, I do not think there is an over-emphasis on funding stem-cell research but we must ensure that we fund science, technology, engineering and mathematics in a way that ensures we have a throughput starting at primary level to bring a cadre of young bright Irish minds to fuel the tertiary sector. That is in line with SFI's Agenda 2020 document whose philosophy and vision is that Ireland becomes one of the best countries in the world at achieving excellence.