Further and Higher Education
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-23
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James Lawless (FF), Kildare North

I am familiar with the situation. Research Ireland is changing some of the schemes it operates. It is consolidating some schemes. There were a number of different schemes within it, partly arising from the merger of the Irish Research Council to Research Ireland, and there was some duplication of schemes and programmes within that. There has been a consolidation. A new strategy has been adopted by Research Ireland, which is one I applaud and share the ambition of. Research Ireland has been funded to a level that has never been seen before. It has been one of the focuses of my time in this role that I have invested significant research funding, including in Research Ireland, which should be working its way through to the individual researchers. I would give an assurance to those researchers that while there may be a change in title of some of the schemes and a movement from one scheme to another, the overall contents of those programmes are being continued. The funding is also being continued. Those researchers should not have to fear the changes they are hearing about.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-23