Research Funding
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-11
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James Lawless (FF), Kildare North

I fully support the research and development tax credit of 35%. In fact, I engaged with the then Minister, Paschal Donohoe, to seek it. I think it is really impactful for the research and innovation and advanced knowledge industries. That ultimately is what creates the resources, jobs and enterprise and, indeed, creates the tax intake that allows us to deliver the public good in other ways. Many of our PhD students may well aspire to work for those same institutions when they complete their education, and many of them may do so in actuality. I would not make any assumptions as to the recipients of that funding. I worked in the sector before I was in political life and a number of smaller institutions, including indigenous ones, also availed of those kinds of supports.
On the stipend itself, my understanding is that the ask was €25,000. The Deputy mentioned the campaign in that regard. A 31% increase was achieved in two years. That is quite a significant increase by any standard. Another point to note is that as the researchers not classed as workers, they do not pay any tax, PRSI or USC. It is entirely tax-free. That is a corollary to bear in mind on that.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-11