Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. The Minister of State will be aware that modern Irish economic policy has been based on two things, namely, tax and talent. The emphasis on tax has become less important in recent times. Ireland is a talent-driven economy and society. We know the key economic and social driver for this country into the future is investment in talent. In fact the reason we set up the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science was a recognition that this was not just about breaking away from the Department of Education to form a new administrative Department, it was about preparing this country for the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century.

The issue I raise today is about talent and those incredibly talented researchers within our higher education institutions and other research institutes. There are broader questions around the stipend and the level of grant support to individual PhD students. The Government has also embarked on addressing some of the shortfalls in core funding for universities, and there are also the big grants that come from Science Foundation Ireland, SFI. I want to talk about the basic tools researchers need to carry out their work in our universities. Quite frankly, the tools are not there. When the Irish Universities Association carried out an audit of research equipment last summer in member universities around the country, it found that 30% of the equipment being used by researchers was more than 15 years old, and 52% of the research equipment was more than ten years old. If the Minister of State thinks about his job and the equipment he is using, if the mobile phone in front of him was more than ten years old it would be impossible to try to do our work.

I will give one specific example of a case in a university.In 2011, an automated microscope was purchased for the sum of €242,000 as part of an EU-wide security project that was looking at individuals' exposure to radioactivity after an accident. It is a very useful piece of equipment. It allows for an experiment to be carried out by a PhD student, or otherwise, in 17 minutes. If the equipment was not there it could take them, using traditional methods, up to five days. That was 2011, we are now 12 years later and they are still relying on that equipment. There are 45 PhD students and a number of other researchers who are relying on it. It was used for more than 1,200 hours last year. If that piece of equipment breaks down, rather than taking them 17 minutes to conduct the experiment it will take them five days. There are countless other examples I can use.

Given what is happening there is a danger we will lose some of our top talent to other countries within the European Union and more widely, simply because the other universities have the basic equipment for those researchers to carry out their research. When Irish companies look to partner with Irish universities, the universities cannot carry out the experiment or the work as quickly as universities in other countries. It is not that the talent is not there, because we have extraordinary talent; it is just that the basic equipment is not there. With the research, it is akin to asking the best baker in the country to make a cake but we ration their supplies to flour and eggs and expect them to work with an oven that regularly breaks down. If we are going to create the best little country in the world in which to be creative, innovative and imaginative and to be a researcher, we must invest in basic core equipment. As part of the Government's priority for the budget, I ask the Minister of State to set out that this would be the case and that we invest in core research equipment.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Byrne for raising this very important issue. I will provide an update on behalf of the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Simon Harris, with regard to the current condition of research infrastructure and equipment in Irish universities.

The Minister would wish to state at the outset that higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and are responsible for their own day-to-day management and operational affairs, including the management of academic affairs. All capital projects advanced by publicly funded higher education institutions must comply with the provisions of the public spending code.

The revised national development plan, NDP, provides for Exchequer investment of nearly €2.9 billion in further and higher education infrastructure, research and innovation over the five-year period from 2021 to 2025. There is €633 million available to the Department in 2023 in capital funding. This comprises the NDP capital allocation for 2023 of €578 million, in addition to the carryover of moneys from 2022 of €55 million. The general areas that will benefit from this capital funding break down as follows: research and innovation, €297 million; higher education capital, €234 million; further education and training capital, €60 million; higher education public private partnerships, €40 million; Higher Education Authority capital, €1 million; and corporate, €1 million.

While these substantial sums are being invested in our further and higher education sectors, I recognise that there are challenges to be addressed. The Department is aware of concerns expressed by the Irish Universities Association, IUA, in relation to the current condition of our research infrastructure and equipment. This matter was raised by the IUA on Tuesday during a meeting of the joint Oireachtas committee. The IUA considers that more than 50% of the equipment among its members is more than ten years old while one third of it is 15 years old. The overarching objective of Impact 2030 is to ensure that Ireland’s collective research and innovation investments and activities make as big a difference as possible to as many people as possible. If our support for research infrastructure is to reflect the need to attract and retain researchers of the highest calibre, we must ensure they have the tools required for their research with access to modern infrastructure and equipment.

The SFI research infrastructure programme supports the research community in building and sustaining the required infrastructure capacity to accomplish high-quality, high-impact and innovative research in areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics that enhance and support enterprise, competitiveness and sectoral development in Ireland. This recognises the need for continued investment in cutting-edge research equipment and infrastructure in areas of national priority. SFI holds periodic infrastructure calls. There were three calls over the period from 2015 to 2021. There was a total of 76 awardees over the period from 2015 to 2020, with a total awarded of €127 million and an average award value of €1.7 million. Funding of €53.3 million across 33 awards was made under the 2021 programme. The Minister is aware of the concerns raised by the IUA and will continue to monitor this issue within the confines of available resources and competing needs.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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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.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Byrne again for raising this very important issue. The Senator is absolutely quite right that we need to ensure our higher education sector is equipped with the resources it needs to make the State competitive and to put Ireland at the forefront and at the cutting edge of innovation. Obviously, with regard to the €2.9 billion that I referred to, there is a huge amount of funding there in relation to research and innovation that needs to be spent. That is a critical component of the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. The new title includes the word "delivery". We need to get that delivery into universities and third level institutions to ensure they are equipped with the best possible tools.

I will also raise with the Minister the further issues the Senator brought up on the floor of the House and I will ask him to revert back to the Senator directly.