Third Level Education
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-02
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James Lawless (FF), Kildare North

I do not think it actually does say that. I say that in a genuine spirit of partnership. I am not trying to catch the Deputy out or correct him. If he can find where it says that and bring it to my attention, I would welcome him doing so and we will have a look at it. I know the letter makes those claims but I do not think they are borne out in a detailed study of the strategy. If they are, it is not something I would support. I have been on the record of this House for many years saying that we need to support research across the full technology readiness level, TRL, spectrum from discovery and frontier research right through to applied. Of course, applied research has a really strong place in economic engagement and driving our enterprise and our knowledge economy is at the core. That creates jobs, talent and knowledge that can support both our economy and our society. Equally, discovery research is ultimately at the heart of all knowledge. Most of the leading, significant progressions of society and civilisation have come about through discovery research.
In terms of funding for the arts, humanities and so on, that is ring-fenced within the strategy. It is proportionate to international comparisons and benchmarks, and certainly on a par with the historic funding of arts, humanities and so on through different research agencies such as the Irish Research Council, Science Foundation Ireland or the previous organisations. There is no reduction in that at all in the strategy or elsewhere. In fact, it is actually a ring-fenced fund.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:14+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02