Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I learn a lot. It is a very valid question that Senator Norris asks regarding where these words came from. The challenge with defining anything is that you have to define it. Once you decide you are going to have a definition, you have to put words to it. The definition we have used on research is one that is generally used internationally. The definition included in this Bill, which the Senator is seeking to amend, comes from the OECD's Frascati Manual, which is generally the global reference point for collecting research and development statistics and definitions. From my own inquiries, I believe knowledge of "humankind, culture and society" is important to research, including the humanities and the like. I do not need to tell a Joycean scholar like Senator Norris about the importance of that. The definition came neither from me nor my very learned officials but from the OECD Frascati Manual.