Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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90. To ask the Taoiseach the amount of funding allocated to the programme for research in third level institutions on an annual basis in each of the years 2010 to 2016 and to date in 2017; the amount subsequently expended in each year; the amount of funding that has been allocated in 2018; the amount of funding that has been ring-fenced for research and frontier research in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50930/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions (PRTLI) was launched in 1998, with five cycles of expenditure to date. The Programme is designed to facilitate Ireland’s Higher Education Institutions to produce world class research in key strategic areas including bioscience/biomedical; medical technologies; energy, environment and marine; food and drink; social sciences and humanities; ICT and advanced communications and; platform technologies and materials.

The PRTLI has supported the provision of top-class research infrastructure (buildings, laboratories and cutting edge equipment) as well as human capital development, through Structured PhD/Emergent Technology programmes across Ireland’s Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). My Department took over responsibility for the PRTLI in May 2010, from the Department of Education and Skills. The Higher Education Authority (HEA) continues to administer Cycle 5 of the Programme on behalf of my Department.

The allocations and amounts expended on the PRTLI in the years 2010 – 2017 are set out in Table A below. The full amount allocated in the Department’s Vote is expended to the HEA within the year, with some increases in funding due to Supplementary Estimates (as detailed below).

Table A - PRTLI funding 2010-2017

*2015 allocation included a Supplementary Estimate of €23.5m in December 2015

**2016 allocation included a Supplementary Estimate of €20m in December 2016

The PRTLI allocation for 2018 is €14.3m. A portion of this will be used to part pay outstanding bills for PRTLI Cycle 5 projects. In addition, a portion of this allocation will be used to commence a postgraduate programme funding both PhDs and Research Masters, as per the action in Innovation 2020. This new programme will be administered by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and will fund postgraduate enrolments in disciplines under their remit. Further details will be provided by SFI over the coming months.

There is no specific allocation within the PRTLI for frontier research. Action 3.8 of Innovation 2020, Ireland’s strategy for research and development, science and technology, provides for a new programme to fund frontier research. On 6^thApril, 2017, the Irish Research Council, an agency of the Department of Education and Skills launched the Frontier Research Programme (LAUREATE), with initial funding of €2.5 million.

My Department and its agencies are important funders of research, with expenditure of €394m in 2016. This accounts for approximately half of total Government investment in R&D. Other Departments also provided funding for research and development across sectors, estimated to be at €367m in 2016. Government investment in R&D includes funding for programmes that encompass all disciplines and all types of research.