Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I read out the same section exactly to emphasise the point. Yes, it says all areas are included. What it does not say, however, is that they will all be treated equally or, if not equally, close to equally, or that there will be a balance in how they are treated. I acknowledge that no one thing is elevated in the Bill, but the concern is that one or two may be elevated in practice, and there is nothing in the Bill to stop that happening. The concern is that we will see an imbalance between those. I gave the example of the possibility of there being €100 million for one area of research and innovation and €1 billion for another. That is the question. We know that everything is covered in the Bill because the Bill amalgamates the Irish Research Council and Science Foundation Ireland. All the areas will be brought together under this new body. That is not in question, and we know that the body has a responsibility to support all these areas. The question is whether there is equity in the approach. There is a concern - I believe it is a fair and reasonable one - that there may be an imbalance in how these areas are addressed.Again, I am genuinely looking to see how it is possible to give or to signal an assurance to people that they do not have to worry about that aspect. The language to be used could be something to the effect that all these areas will all be there and there will be a balance in terms of how they are all addressed, in how the agency approaches them and, indeed, in how the agency allocates resources to them. Maybe the word "balance" is a compromise one that could be brought in here. It is not the same as "parity" because this word means equity, but at least having the word "balance" would give us something that would allow us to highlight a situation were an obvious imbalance were to arise. As I said, it is less than parity but it might represent a compromise that could work on Report Stage.