Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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1151. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding the hiring of contract researchers (details supplied). [37200/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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My Department is strongly committed to providing funding for targeted research in the agri-food and forestry sector through its three competitive funding programmes - FIRM, Stimulus and CoFoRD. The research funded is generally in the form of applied or pre-commercial projects over a 3 to 5 year period and is undertaken, often collaboratively, by research performing organisations such as the universities, institutes of technology and Teagasc. Awards totalling €32 million were made to fifty five research projects in 2012.

The funding provided by my Department covers a number of expense categories including staff comprising Masters and PhD students and staff recruited on contract to undertake work commensurate with the type of research involved.

One of the key aims of my Department's research programmes is to develop research capability in the Irish public research system that contributes to underpinning the sustainability and competitiveness of the sector thereby helping to achieve the ambitious growth targets which the food industry has set itself under the Food Harvest 2020 plan. The staffing element of the funding provided through these programmes is, therefore, focused on the training and development of early stage researchers in order to build a pool of expert scientists capable of taking up highly skilled positions in the public sector and, more importantly, in large and small indigenous and multinational food and Bioeconomy-based businesses based here in Ireland. The decision of the Kerry Group to invest €100 million in locating its Global Technology and Innovation Centre in Naas was a very welcome development and is an example of the type of knowledge and science based direction being taken by some of our food companies. This facility will have an on-going requirement for highly skilled food scientists and is glowing example of why we need to continue to invest in the training and development of staff through programmes such as FIRM.

The recruitment of staff and issues around staff employment contracts is the responsibility of the institutions involved. Those institutions have a responsibility to comply with Government policy on remuneration, public service numbers and employment law.