Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 35: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps she has taken to implement the recommendations of the report entitled Towards a Framework for Research Careers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40907/09]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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As a key support for leveraging growth and productivity Ireland has substantially increased the public investment in R&D in recent years and therefore substantially increased the size of its research community.

The development of sustainable career paths is vital if we are to continue to attract talented young people into research, as our human and intellectual capital is an important draw for attracting and embedding innovative FDI companies here and stimulating indigenous companies to grow their R&D capacity.

The Advisory Science Council produced its report, "Towards a Framework for Researcher Careers", at end-2008. The Council recommended a career path with distinct stages and with a rigorous competitive selection process at each stage. A national programme that provides advice to researchers on career planning is also recommended.

The task of progression of a framework along those lines has been entrusted to the Higher Education Research Group (HERG), an implementing mechanism of the strategy for science, technology and innovation chaired by the Department of Education and Science and representative of all the key stakeholders. The progression of this framework will have to take account of the developing budgetary position and any associated developments with regard to public sector employment.

In the interim research funding agencies have sought to align their approach consistent with the broad general principles to be addressed in the researcher career framework. A notable example is the SFI Starting Investigator Research Grant (SIRG) which addresses a significant issue that currently exists in the Irish researcher community, namely, the transition from a post-doctorate researcher to being an independent, self-funded investigator.

The SIRG award provides the support and infrastructure to enable early career researchers to carry out novel research in areas that underpin biotechnology, information and communications technology, and sustainable energy and energy-efficient technologies. The awards offer funding opportunities that help third-level institutions attract and develop researchers. The first SIRG awards were made in October 2009, with 15 awardees from seven institutions, with a total value of €7.9 million including overheads.