Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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275. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on the recently concluded agreement to include Israel in Horizon Europe until 2027; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56530/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Following the conclusion of the formal negotiations by the European Commission with Israel on Israel's association to the Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research & Innovation in October, the Commission has launched the process to formalise the agreement and aims to sign the agreement before the end of the year.

Member States have no formal role in the development of Israel’s association agreement.

Promoting international cooperation has long been a cornerstone of the European research and innovation framework programmes. It drives scientific excellence and enables Europe’s researchers to collaborate with the best researchers globally.

The pandemic has accelerated and strengthened the importance of global interaction. Now more than ever we need to work together and pool our finite resources to maximise the contribution that investment in research and innovation can make to addressing the significant economic, environmental and societal challenges we face.

From a European perspective, joint research efforts with Israel have resulted in many success stories across different thematic priorities for the EU including climate change, public health, and safe transport.

Israel has also been a partner for Ireland under Horizon 2020 and continued research collaboration is expected under the new programme, Horizon Europe.