Seanad debates

Wednesday, 24 May 2023

10:30 am

Photo of Malcolm ByrneMalcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I thank the NUI Senators for putting forward this motion. I agree with the broad premise of the points being made. We should be working towards having the best higher education system in the world, and one that meets quite a number of purposes. The only way we can do that is by having top-class lecturers and researchers. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive, as long as we have the necessary supports in place. I would be quite happy to have a debate with Senator McDowell on the slavish following of some of the international metrics, league tables and so on that we sometimes see. This runs through the education system more generally, and not just in higher education. It is important. There is a challenge to institutions to have more regard to someone's lecturing ability when appointments are being made, so that they are not purely made on the basis of research. That is a broader debate.

I am happy the Government is not opposing this motion. There are very serious concerns here. Any young emerging academic should have certainty, should have a career path in front of them and should be supported during that period. It is important to recognise that universities are autonomous institutions and that there are times when it is appropriate that there be short-term contracts, fixed-term cover and so on. This must be respected, but the difficulty is that such solutions are being used in the system to far too great an extent currently. That is a challenge.

I am aware that there is a Government review - the Minister of State and I have spoken about it - of State support for researchers, including postdoctoral researchers. In parallel with the forthcoming research legislation, this review should underpin how we support PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers and early stage lecturers. This is about a broader question. For a long time, our country's economic success has been based on tax and talent. We are not going to be competing on tax anymore and we are increasingly going to be competing on talent. Providing support to talent is the reason the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science was established. The only way we will ensure we have a continuous pool of talent is by having good early stage researchers and lecturers, but those guarantees are not there within the system currently.

It must be acknowledged that there has been a significant investment in additional staff in our universities, but I am concerned that too many of those additional staff are being sourced through short-term and precarious contracts. That should not be the case. This is not just a question of pay and conditions. It is also a question of the environment in which many of those staff have to operate. I have spoken previously of my concern about access to research equipment, in particular basic research equipment. That approximately half of research equipment in universities is over ten years old and a third is over 15 years old is deeply concerning. If we are trying to have the best people at the early stages of their academic careers, they must have certainty and the right equipment with which to work.

I welcome the motion. There are opportunities to address many of the challenges that it lays out, but as a matter of urgency and for the benefit of the individuals concerned and, more broadly, for Ireland as a society and an economy, it is critical that we act shortly.

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