Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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627. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason the increase of €4,000 in the PhD stipend is only available to SFI and IRC candidates; if there is any intention to extend this to all PhD candidates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46070/23]

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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639. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide more information on the reason the increase for PhD research funding only applies to those being funded by the Science Foundation of Ireland and the Irish Research Council; if, in the interest of equality, he will expand these increases to apply to all PhD researchers with recognised funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46291/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 627, 631, 632 and 639 together.

Since becoming Minister, I have introduced a number of changes to support PhD researchers.

The first one was to address the discrepancy between the stipend paid to PhD researchers for the Irish Research Council (IRC) and those of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI). Then, in Budget 2023, the stipend was increased by €500 for both SFI and IRC researchers to €19,000.

Under Budget 2024, I have secured funding to increase the PhD stipend provided by the competitive funding agencies under my Department – SFI and the IRC to €22,000 per student per annum for their approximately 3,000 stipend awardees.

This is an increase of approximately 16% and ensures for example that Ireland pays its PhD researchers funded by my Department's competitive funding agencies more than those funded by similar agencies in the United Kingdom.

In their first report of the National Review of State Supports for PhD Researchers that I commissioned in November 2022, the Co-Chairs recommended an increase towards an optimum stipend level of €25,000. However, the report did stress this was subject to funding availability and cognisant of the impact of any stipend change on public finances.

As outlined above, I have succeeded in significantly and consistently increasing the stipend provided by my Department's agencies. There are also approximately 2,000 PhD students who receive varying levels of scholarship support from their host higher education institution. This is primarily financed through the core funding provided to the sector for which I secured an additional €60 million in Budget 2024, again building on the increase secured in Budget 2023. How that core funding is allocated is a matter for each autonomous institution and I understand that they will be reflecting on this issue shortly.

It is estimated that in the region of 1,000 PhD students receive stipends from other public sources, such as Departments and Agencies, as well as Horizon Europe (the European Union's main research funding programme). The level of funding provided are a matter for those other public funders.

I will continue to seek additional funding to support PhD researchers under my Department's remit, including as part of the upcoming work on revisions to future National Development Plan allocations.

In respect of employment legislation, PhD students are not classified as employees. Their status is an important element of the independent review that I commissioned and one for which the Co-Chairs sought additional time to consider, given its complexity. They have now submitted their final review report which will be published shortly, and an 18-month work programme to implement appropriate recommendations is under development by my Department. It is important to note here that this will also require consideration by other Departments.