Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, today to speak on this. It has been a day of much change, and this is a major change as well. Taighde Éireann is going to be the brand-new funding agency for research and innovation at third level. It brings together funding agencies we already have, such as Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council, which are statutory funding agencies. It is important that this new landmark funding agency funds all activities and disciplines across all fields of research. It is crucial, as has been said here, that this agency delivers excellence across all of these fields, that it supports excellence and drives excellence through funding. I refer to Exchequer funding, but also to funding from Europe, international funding and industry co-funding. It is a matter of getting all those pots together so that people invest in Irish research and so scientists come to Ireland because of our excellent research. We must get PhD and master's students from all across the world to decide to come here because they want to be the top in immunology, photonics, behavioural sciences and psychology, and because we do it here and we do it the best here.

It is crucial that this agency drives that level of engagement in the international fields of research across all fields. That may be in arts, science and technology and across so many areas. Most recently, when it came to our vaccines, we saw how crucial it is for medicine to drive invention and innovation in a very fast turnaround time.

This is a day of big change because I previously worked in Science Foundation Ireland, so I have a very personal experience with that agency, which is now 20 years old. I remember when that agency started in 2004. I remember Forfás, which was an agency in its own right, which had much experience and expertise in driving policy. Many economists drove a lot of the policies we see here today in terms of the success of Ireland as a country across so many areas. It is crucial to see how education and the ways we have been able to deliver third-level education have had such an impact in this country to attract foreign direct investment here, but also on ourselves, our society, our engagement in our local society and local communities. It drives entrepreneurship here as well. That confidence in this country has come from education and that belief in ourselves. It has driven much of the success that we see today across many of our third-level institutions, universities and young people both here in Ireland and outside the country.

We talk about a diaspora. It is amazing that there are so many people from Ireland who are performing in senior, important roles all across the world, in many different agencies and many different countries. This is in many ways thanks to their education, what they have learned here in Ireland and the confidence that came with that as well.

This new agency will drive that as well. One of the things I saw from working in Science Foundation Ireland - and I know this is also relevant to the Irish Research Council and many other funding agencies - was how it brought in innovation through international peer review. That was crucial. When we looked at driving excellence, the funding of excellence and the competitive nature around that, there was very much an understanding that we would bring an international understanding of that as well. That will probably be part of what this agency will look at through reviewing applications for funding, etc. It is a matter of how we drive that international acknowledgement.This agency will be looking at certain areas and building on the excellence that is there already. I would like to see what has been successful in those funding agencies brought forward into the operations of Taighde Éireann. A key element in these agencies is the quality and skill set of the staff employed. Each of these funding agencies has incredible staff that engage with the universities and other actors in the third level landscape. They have an understanding of the landscape in Ireland and of how to access funding to support groups and promote excellence in different fields and this must continue. The people working as programme advisers in different fields within Taighde Éireann are absolutely crucial in terms of engagement with our researchers across the country, as well as in Northern Ireland.

I have worked in Science Foundation Ireland and also had the opportunity to work in the research office in the University of Galway. I worked with research teams in the university itself. Research is one part of this as well as driving engagement and fighting for Exchequer funding. I would invite the Minister of State to comment on how we drive more engagement around Horizon Europe funding and other European funding. What opportunities does he see for us in the time ahead, across the various disciplines? We need more engagement from Taighde Éireann in promoting, encouraging and securing funding to put people in place in the research offices in all of the universities and institutes across the country.

Having worked on a Horizon 2020 funding application, I understand the importance of a multidisciplinary approach. European funding is incredible for showcasing the multidisciplinary approach and the strength of bringing different disciplines together. There could be seven or eight countries working together, with people from very different backgrounds. It also brought companies into the mix, often smaller companies or those focused on a particular niche area. It brought researchers together at a practical level with the aim of producing research with a practical outcome from which there could be spin-outs and which could be used straight away. That engagement between research innovation and venture capital is crucial in terms of driving forward and rolling out research achievements into the real world.

In the context of innovation, Ireland ranks very highly in terms of further education, with over 60% of students up to the age of 24 having a third-level degree. That is one of the highest levels in Europe and in global terms, we also rank very well. There is a lot of engagement with researchers but there are a number of challenges. I worked as a contract researcher in the research office of the University of Galway. Our universities have a lot of contract researchers who face challenges in developing long-term careers. What are the opportunities for people coming through with PhDs and post-doctoral qualifications? Many have worked as part of research teams. What mechanisms are in place to provide support for career development for these teams? That is something we need to do and Taighde Éireann must engage more to support the universities in that regard. We need to look at how we support students by way of PhD stipends and how we support our universities in ensuring that PhD students have clear career structures. That must be part of the work of Taighde Éireann.

I am delighted that we have a Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and with the changes that are emanating from it. Taighde Éireann is one important agency and another is the Higher Education Authority, which is also undergoing welcome change. This agency is really going to drive change. It is going to be a standard bearer for Ireland. Senator Crowe asked how we are going to maintain our hard-earned reputation but we have excellence here in Ireland. We are starting from a really high base and will be able to fly high.Taighde Éireann, Research Ireland, will be a flag bearer of what Ireland does in the world. That is something we will see more ourselves.

I again welcome the Bill which brings this new agency, Taighde Éireann, into being. There is the research side and the researchers, but I would also welcome the Minister of State's comments on innovation and how we work with Enterprise Ireland and how those mechanisms will operate. Previously, Science Foundation Ireland was a sister agency of the IDA and Enterprise Ireland and changes were meant to bring it into a different relationship. The Department is now the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. How do we maintain our engagement with the likes of Enterprise Ireland and the IDA when it comes to innovation? I speak specifically of innovation in this context and pieces of research that are looking to spin out from university, venture capital, and how we support entrepreneurship and innovation in universities. Ireland ranks 22nd among 132 economies in the global innovation index. Taighde Éireann has a job ahead of it to ensure we go up the rankings.