Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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115. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which his Department is engaged with the fields of science and research with a view to meeting the current and future requirements of the workplace in terms of suitably qualified personnel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6350/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Economic development, job creation and national prosperity are, and will be, highly dependent on a strong research, development and innovation base with a regular output of new discoveries and inventions, innovative products and services, and a pipeline of highly educated and trained people.

A key objective of my Department is that all students and learners are provided with the opportunities to acquire and develop the skills that allow them reach their potential in a way that meets the very broad and rapidly changing needs of our labour force, the economy and society. My objective is, therefore, to ensure that there is access into either further or higher education for each person who wishes to pursue educational options at third-level.

Additionally, postgraduate education delivered by higher education institutions is critical to Ireland’s research system. In addition to contributing to knowledge, postgraduate researcher education drives participants to develop their own research skills that can be applied in a range of environments, in academia, in public service or industry, at home or abroad.

Figures from the Higher Education Authority (HEA) show that first year enrolments of postgraduate researchers (that is Research Masters and PhD students) have increased by 828 from 2,765 in the 2019/20 academic year to 3,142 in the 2020/21 academic year. This means that we have exceeded the Innovation 2020 targeted increase of 500 enrolments from the 2013/14 baseline.

Overall, the number of postgraduate students enrolled in our Higher Education Institutions has increased by 17% in both STEM and AHSS since 2014/15. As a result, we can expect a higher number of graduates in the coming years.

It is imperative that we continue to develop a pipeline of research talent if Ireland is to realise its ambitions under the new Programme for Government and the National Development Plan, and my officials are exploring this as part of the development of the next National Research and Innovation Strategy currently underway at my department.

Last summer, as part of its development, a public consultation was held which yielded over 115 submissions from across the R&I system. This was complemented by an online stakeholder engagement event, which had over 130 attendees discussing the issues raised in the consultation paper to inform the strategy.

The high level of engagement and ambition shows the commitment the research community has in fostering an open and collaborative system, and demonstrates the importance attached to the role that Research & Innovation can play in supporting progress for many sectors of our economy and society.