Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish everybody a happy St. Brigid's Day. It celebrates women's creativity and success, which is fantastic. I wish to make two points. A public consultation is open and, as I mentioned previously, we have until 1 March to make submissions. I am talking about families, schools, clubs and businesses. In areas of east County Galway, people should consider making a submission to the consultation. We have fantastic gateways into the west through Ballinasloe, multi-million euro whiskey distilleries are planned for Ahascragh, and there are gorgeous forest parks in Mountbellew. We are fighting to transform the region of east County Galway and to offer the most wonderful experience to cyclists and walkers on the new Dublin-to-Galway cycleway.

On funding for the Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, research centres, as my party's spokesperson for science, research and innovation, I welcome the announcement of more than €190 million for five research centres, which includes funding for more than 17 higher education institutes. It is wonderful, although I am slightly biased, given that I worked previously in Science Foundation Ireland and at the research office in National University of Ireland, Galway, NUIG. I am over the moon to see more than €46 million for CÚRAM, the SFI research centre in medical devices based in and led from NUIG. This funding speaks to hundreds of jobs. More than 1,000 postgraduate and postdoctoral students will be funded for the next five years under this programme.

The centre at CÚRAM is examining smart implantable medical devices for chronic conditions, particularly heart disease and diabetes, and it is working with industry. It is phenomenal. There is excellent research and talent, especially in the west, to be slightly biased again, and this leads to engagement with industry. There are more than 50 medtech industry partnerships in CÚRAM alone and it is viewed as a centre of excellence not just in Ireland but throughout the world. The researchers and reviewers who reviewed the applications, which involved more than a year's work, have stated that internationally, CÚRAM is considered the foremost centre of research excellence in the country. It is fantastic and I really welcome it.