Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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431. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of increasing the North-South Research Programme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28061/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The North-South Research Programme (NSRP) is jointly funded by the Higher Education Authority and the Shared Island Initiative.

In March 2022, over €37million was awarded from the Shared Island Fund to support this programme, based on three strands, viz:

(i) bilateral researcher-researcher projects

(ii) emerging hubs of excellence

(iii) Partnerships of Scale.

Focusing specifically on the strands at (ii) and (iii) above, a second call with funding of €17m was launched with a deadline for submission of responses by February 2025. The evaluation process is currently under way and it is anticipated awards will be made before the commencement of the 2025/ 2026 academic year. A total of €16 million was made available for this call.