Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his answer. In his EU affairs brief, he will be aware of the importance of European Research Council, ERC, grants, how competitive they are, and how wonderful it is when researchers in Ireland are able to access them. If our researchers do not have the basic equipment with which to work, they can move with those ERC grants to anywhere within the EU. For us to continue to be competitive on the research space, in Europe and globally, we must have the basic equipment. It is about providing our researchers with the basic tools. Yes the SFI grants are wonderful and very important for the big shiny tools, if you like, but for the basics in the laboratories and in the areas of research, we must provide those tools. Whether it is through funding directed through the Higher Education Authority or whatever, we must look at providing the basic resources. We are really approaching a crisis situation here where there is a difficulty in attracting and retaining top researchers in Ireland. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, to take the issue to the Minister, Deputy Harris, as a priority that we address this challenge.