Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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3392. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide details on the breakdown of the funding for the future funding of €23.6 million announced at the beginning of the year to fund and support 23 research projects focused on AI, healthcare, agriculture, energy and transport, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42991/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The Research Ireland Frontiers for the Future Programme funds novel and innovative ideas with strong potential to deliver impactful solutions for major challenges facing society today. The programme supports innovative, collaborative research with the potential to deliver significant economic and societal impact. This targeted investment creates vital opportunities for researchers, and facilitates crucial progress for research on priority issues of national significance.

In February of this year, I announced €23.6 million in programme supports for the development of world-class research across a range of disciplines, spanning nine research institutions nationwide, who brought forward novel and innovative ideas with strong potential to deliver impactful solutions for major challenges facing society today. This specific iteration of the programme focused on tackling challenges in AI, healthcare, agriculture, energy, and transport.

These 23 awards will fund a total of 86 research positions, comprising Postdoctoral researchers, PhDs, Research Assistants and support staff. The programme promotes gender balance and provides opportunities for emerging investigators returning to research.

A full listing has been provided. Examples of the initiatives being funded include:

AI for diagnostic imaging, with a focus on cardiac MRI (Dublin City University);

Investigating long-term effects of COVID-19 on children’s gut bacteria, social skills, and language development (RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences);

Mining micro-organisms living in seaweed to identify novel compounds with strong potential for crop improvement (Technological University of the Shannon);

Machine Learning to tackle complex issues using varied and sensitive data whilst ensuring data privacy and clear communication (University of Limerick).