Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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2151. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason for the decline in gender balance on national call research review panels over the period 2022-2024 and for the decline in the number of female participants in ACORNS over the same period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40757/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is referring to two separate schemes operated by my Department.

My Department supports a broad range of public-good Research and Innovation activities through competitive research Calls. The applications to these are subject to expert evaluation. The rate of female participation on call research review and evaluation panels can vary. When selecting evaluators, my Department is guided by the need to acquire the best expert advice available for the scientific issues that are contained in the projects submitted. Due account is taken of gender when selecting participants. Nevertheless, the expert review panels can only be selected from the pool of relevant experts that are available at the time that proposals need to be evaluated.

Regarding ACORNS, each year the commitment is to provide places for up to fifty selected participants on an ACORNS round table. Normally seven round tables of between seven and eight participants are accommodated. In 2023/2024, an additional round table was offered, as an additional ACORNS voluntary Lead Entrepreneur was available. This was an exceptional circumstance and is not something that is available to the programme each year.

For 2024/2025, seven round tables were once again offered with 56 initially selected to participate, and 52 completing the cycle

The table below shows the participants over the course of the last three completed cycles..