Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for engaging at least and giving consideration to those amendments. With regard to amendments No. 7 and 9, some of the language is there. I had expressed concern around the way environmental development is referred to and about how I believe it is environmental development from a very narrow perspective within the Bill. Nonetheless, perhaps it would have been a good opportunity because there is, of course, an amendment already that goes back to the Dáil debate. It is a pity the opportunity was not taken to insert the core phrase both of those amendments put forward, which is "for the public good". Therefore, even if the Minister of State did not want to include explicit reference to "social and environmental" or "frontier and basic", there would have been the potential to maybe insert and add the phrase "for the public good" to some of the language that was already in the Bill. I think that is an opportunity missed.

As I said, it is important that we do not just have research in these areas but that we have a clear mandate of the public good because we know that social, environmental or even cultural research is not necessarily and intrinsically for the public good. There are many different purposes to which cultural, social and environmental research may be applied. As I said, having a clear mandate in respect of the public good would have strengthened and improved the vision for this new research and innovation agency. I thank the Minister of State for his consideration. However, I regret that he was not able to accept the amendments.