Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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487. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which he expects or plans to upgrade medical research facilities nationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31667/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Innovation 2020, Ireland’s current national research and innovation strategy, has committed to developing the national network of Research Centres. Over the past several years Ireland has built up significant research capability through medical research focused on enabling Research Centres, Technology Centres and Technology Gateways.

In the medtech sector, these centres include: CÚRAM Centre for Research in Medical Devices; AMBER in Advanced Materials and Bioengineering Research; CONNECT, the Centre for Future Networks and Communications; The Insight Centre for Data Analytics; CeADAR, Centre for Applied Data Analytics; ADAPT, Centre for Digital Content Technology; FutureNeuro; The Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre (SSPC); IPIC Irish Photonic Integration Centre; Manufacturing Centres I-Form and Confirm; IMR (Irish Manufacturing Research); Tyndall and a number of Technology Gateways including: MICRA (Biodiagnostics), MET (Medical and Engineering Technologies), APT (polymer technology), Shannon Applied Biotechnology, GMedtech, Centre for eIntegrated Care (CeIC) DCU and The Innovation Value Institute (IVI).

Medical Devices, Diagnostics, Connected Health and Therapeutics are key research areas for Ireland within the Health and Wellbeing Research Priority Areas 2018-2023. Research and innovation in associated areas such as Manufacturing 4.0, 3D printing, Robotics, Internet of Things, Data Analytics and advanced materials also enables medical device development.

Ireland is among the top destinations of choice for Medtech investments into Europe with a world-class community of FDI multinationals and innovative start-ups, excellent research and effective collaboration across enterprise and the research system. World-class research with collaboration across enterprise, research institutions and clinicians make Ireland the perfect platform for Medtech companies to start, innovate, scale and export.

Ireland’s Medtech sector has become one of the leading producers of medical device products globally and is one of the largest exporters of Medtech products in Europe with annual exports of €12.6 billion and companies here directly export to over 100 countries worldwide.

Therapeutics research is a priority area for Irish research and basic biomedical science is a key science and technology platform underpinning Ireland’s priority areas. Ireland has developed strong capabilities and capacity in research associated with manufacturing and research disciplines underpinning the development and discovery of therapeutics. Ireland is recognised internationally in: immunology, oncology, neuroscience, gastroenterology and microbiome research.

Ireland is well positioned to be a leader in Pharma 4.0 supported by the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT), the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology Centre (PMTC), the Research Centre for Pharmaceuticals, (SSPC), and Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR).

Initial work has commenced on the development of the successor strategy to Innovation 2020 and the new Research and Innovation strategy will consider Ireland’s continued development of its research facilities including the medical sector.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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488. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which he expects research facilities to be expanded nationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31668/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Building capacity to respond to challenges and opportunities and to remain competitive is done through sustained investment over many years. Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) is Ireland’s largest competitive funding agency. SFI is committed to building this capacity in 2021 by continuing to place a priority on maintaining a balanced portfolio which places an emphasis on early and advanced research careers, frontiers/discovery and applied research, research projects that are led by individuals and small groups as well as large scale research centres.

The SFI Research Infrastructure (RI) call was launched in February 2018. A major objective of the call was to support the research community in building and sustaining the required infrastructure capacity to accomplish high quality, high impact and innovative STEM research. SFI has awarded close to €38m in funding under this programme since 2018. This significant investment will see new infrastructure and equipment coming on stream which will benefit our national capabilities for years to come.

The expansion of Tyndall National Institute (TNI), a partnership between the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and University College Cork, is identified as a strategic investment priority in Project Ireland 2040. TNI operates at the cutting edge of ICT research and has reached capacity at its current facility in Cork – limiting further growth in researcher numbers, industry engagement, collaborative R&D and its extension into new areas of “deep technology” which will be critical to Ireland’s enterprise development in areas such as cybersecurity, AI, quantum computing, photonics and materials. The TNI expansion plans will double both its size and capacity over the next decade and expand TNI’s role as a leading global ICT research institute.

Work is also underway in my Department to develop the successor strategy to Innovation 2020, Ireland's strategy for research and development, science and technology. This new strategy will once again be a whole-of-Government strategy. I expect the strategy to set out a vision that will ensure we prioritise investing in RDI as key to addressing our economic and social challenges such as climate change, digitalisation and public health. It will also focus on addressing the cross-cutting issues that are essential for maintaining a well-functioning, fit for purpose RDI system capable of addressing these challenges, including a focus on the research infrastructure needed to achieve this. The Strategy will be accompanied by an ambitious work programme across Government to deliver on our common goals.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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489. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the efforts being made to ensure the availability of an adequate supply of graduates at third and fourth level in order to attract inward investment here in the specialised areas of medical science; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31670/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Science Foundation Ireland has commenced a programme to support advanced skills and training (PhDs), in collaboration with industry, for the new economy. The agency has invested over €100m in 6 SFI Centres for Research Training. The 6 SFI Centres for Research Training will provide training for over 700 postgraduate students (over a lifetime of 7.5 years) in the areas of Machine Learning, Digitally Enhanced Reality, Foundations of Data Science, Genomics Data Science, Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Network for Sustainable Societies. Students will be equipped with transversal skills including entrepreneurship and innovation to enable them to adapt and react to rapidly evolving workplaces and making them a very attractive skills pipeline for industry.

The role of ICT in health and healthcare is increasingly critical. Many of the highly skilled graduates from these 6 SFI Centres for Research Training may well emerge with skills of relevance to areas of medical science. Of particular note is the SFI Centre for Research Training in Genomics Data Science which is hosted by the National University of Ireland, Galway. This SFI Centre for Research Training will produce a cohort of highly trained scientists capable of engaging effectively with the data science challenges involved in realising the transformative potential of genomics across the broad range of its applications.

Both research and innovation are needed to power Ireland’s knowledge economy and create a sustainable, competitive, and more broadly-based economy which will be resilient to future challenges and address important societal needs. SFI has developed a suite of dynamic funding programmes which facilitate industry/academic collaboration. These funding programmes enable companies and academics to work together on specific programmes of research to address industry needs, support technology transfer and grow skills and expertise. The network of 16 SFI Research Centres, which are part of our higher education institutions, are a critical part of this landscape, and through their reputation as homes of world class research and training attract and retain foreign direct investment in Ireland, and help grow indigenous industry, with research excellence and global thought leadership at their core. One example is FutureNeuro, the SFI Research Centre for Chronic and Rare Neurological Diseases which is hosted by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. The Centre conducts research in the thematic areas of diagnostics, therapeutics and eHealth for chronic and rare neurological diseases. FutureNeuro is already attracting industry attention and is working with partners such as Roche, Janssen and Microsoft.

SFI’s annual plan of funding programmes is designed to ensure that the agency maintains a balanced portfolio which places an emphasis on early and advanced research careers, frontiers/discovery and applied research, research projects that are led by individuals and small groups as well as large scale research centres. These programmes, such as the SFI Frontiers for the Future Programme ensure that we are training PhD students in areas of fundamental science which will be the foundations upon which innovations and economic competitiveness can grow in the future.