I am hopeful that this will be interpreted.

Yes, but I thank the Minister of State for the clarification on the definition.

I move amendment No. 19: In page 35, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following: “(6) Such conditions of funding expected by the Agency shall include the advancement of gender equality and the implementation of the Athena SWAN Charter.”.

The amendment will insert a new subsection to section 40, which again looks at the conditions of funding aspect. It will be important to see how the ethics aspect is interpreted and I will look to that with interest, but one thing that made a huge impact was the interpretation made by the Irish Research Council, which decided on an ethical basis that it needed to support gender equality within our higher education institutions. It made the important decision to insert a conditionality into its funding for research …

These are important amendments. The reasons for their importance have come very much into focus this year and in the current context. Amendment No. 85a states: The Board shall make regulations regarding conditions of funding and a process for withdrawal of funding from research projects which may contribute to contravention of international law, including contraventions of rulings of the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. This relates to the very important principle of doing no h…

I think this is the largest and most significant section.

I will exercise my right in that regard. The Bill at the moment simply states, "The Chief Executive Officer may, with the approval of the Board". I want to indicate that I may table an amendment on Report Stage to address this. It allows for when they are not complying with the conditions of funding. The core matter is whether there will be a condition of funding which is that there should be compliance with international law. I know that sounds clear, but we need to be clear about the conditions of funding. It is …

I move amendment No. 86: In page 36, line 24, after "determination" to insert ", following consultation with the Board,".

I move amendment No. 87: In page 36, line 33, after “subsection” to insert “, following consultation with the Board,”.

I move amendment No. 90a. In page 41, after line 38, to insert the following: “(2) When entering into an agreement under this section, the Agency shall ensure that such agreements are consistent with relevant ethical standards, human rights and international law and would not compromise the ability of researchers to participate in and receive funding from such schemes.”.

I move amendment No. 90b: In page 41, after line 38, to insert the following: “(2) When entering into an agreement under this section, the Agency shall ensure that such agreements are consistent with relevant ethical standards, human rights and international law and in particular would not compromise the State’s obligations under: (a) the Cluster Munitions and Anti-Personnel Mines Act 2008; (b) the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; (c) the Chemical Weapons Convention; (d) the Biological Weapons Co…

I move amendment No. 91: In page 41, after line 38, to to insert the following: “Public-public partnerships 50. The Agency may enter into, establish or support public-public partnerships for research between designated higher education institutions and public bodies both in Ireland and internationally.”.

I move amendment No. 92: In page 41, after line 38, to insert the following: “Public-public partnerships 50. The Agency may enter into, establish or support public-public partnerships for research between designated higher education institutions and public bodies both in Ireland and internationally, in particular on areas including: (a) the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals; (b) climate action; (c) biodiversity protection and enhancement; (d) social cohesion; (e) gender equality (f) poverty and social in…

I move amendment No. 93: In page 41, after line 38, to insert the following: “Athena SWAN 50 . The Board shall establish procedures regarding the disbursement of funding making such disbursement contingent on implementation of the Athena SWAN Charter.”.

I move amendment No. 94: In page 42, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: “(2) An agreement or arrangement under subsection (1) shall not impede the ability of the Agency to uphold its regular functions, as prescribed in section 9 .”.

Yes. Amendment No. 94 addresses section 50 in terms of the arrangements between the agency and Ministers of Government regarding research and innovation. Amendment No. 94 will insert a new subsection which specifies that decisions regarding research and innovation agreements under the section should "not impede the ability of the Agency to uphold its regular [everyday] functions, as prescribed in section 9 [of the Bill]". While agreements of this nature are nonetheless important and worthwhile, it is imperative the…

I would like clarity from the Minister of State as to how that is tied into the functions of the agency. To be clear, the language I have in my amendment is that it "[does] not impede the ability of the Agency to uphold its regular functions". We all know that we have come across things many times which need to be or should be done, or that are even in the functions to be done, but do not get done because the resources are not there. There will be a limited amount of financial and human resources the agency will ha…

Senator Dolan may have been referring more to section 49 which is on funding partnerships. I agree with the Senator absolutely that here are significant funding opportunities and partnerships. I have emphasised the importance of that and I welcome that, within section 49 - it is actually a very positive aspect of the Bill - those arrangements may be with either a public or a private body. Public bodies may also be part of such arrangements for funding. I certainly have no opposition to that. I have withdrawn amendm…

The point is still very relevant.

It is relevant to the wider debate. As I said, the Athena SWAN charter is important. One of the key things that I am concerned we may lose is that, previously, the Irish Research Council drove a lot of the take-up of the Athena SWAN charter by making compliance, or indeed engagement with the Athena SWAN process, a condition of research funding. That led to a massive step change in a lot of universities in that, suddenly, they started to actually take it seriously in terms of whether they were delivering on those st…