I am grateful for the opportunity to address the House. On Committee Stage in the Seanad, I brought forward one technical amendment that relates to an additional section being inserted, section 71, "Confirmation of acts done or purporting to have been done". This is a technical amendment to provide full clarity and continuity of the related provisions in the Statute Book in advance of the establishment of the new funding agency, Taighde Éireann or Research Ireland. There was a technical oversight within SI 586/2020…

I thank the Deputy for her contribution and input. I thank all Deputies who have indicated their support for this Bill. I also thank the Senators who contributed to a lengthy debate in the Seanad on the Bill and I thank the officials from the Department for their work on this. Hopefully, it will represent a new horizon for the research community right across Ireland, which is a really important part of our economy and our educational institutions. The new body will contribute to the betterment of our country as we …

The definition in the Bill as drafted is aligned with EU policy and Irish national policy and strategy. The Bill does not exist in isolation but within an existing statutory framework with regard to climate action. There is already a legal obligation on public bodies to comply with Ireland's climate law. Section 15 (1) of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act of 2021 states that: “(1) A relevant body shall, in so far as practicable, perform its functions in a manner consistent with— (a) the …

The new agency will play a critical role in driving change and finding innovative solutions to enable us to thrive, integrating climate action and sustainability into all of its functions. The new agency will be following on from the excellent ongoing work of both agencies in that regard, with a mandate to foster co-operation across the research and innovation ecosystem, to protect and restore our biodiversity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and minimise waste and pollution. Looking towards a circular economy and…

I would like to address amendment No. 2, which relates to the interpretation section of the Bill., amendments Nos. 10 and 11, which address the objects of the agency, and amendments Nos. 16 and 17, which relate to section 35 of the Bill on schemes for funding of research and innovation. As for amendment No. 2, submitted by Senators Clonan and Craughwell, parity of esteem is not just between disciplines or between discipline groupings like science, technology, engineering and mathematics and arts, humanities and soc…

Regarding amendments Nos. 6 and 13, as outlined repeatedly during the Committee Stage debate, the agency has no remit regarding researcher careers. This Bill is not the appropriate place for this and we are therefore not proposing to accept these amendments. The Government is committed to implementing Impact 2030: Ireland’s Research and Innovation Strategy. A dedicated talent pilar highlights the crucial importance of people and talent to the Irish research and innovation ecosystem. It commits to ensuring researche…

No.

The proposed amendment No. 7 is in keeping with the policy intentions of the Bill, and we were minded to include a very similar amendment which came up on Committee Stage in the other House. The Department sought legal advice to ensure that the proposed wording did not create any unintended consequences. The advice was that the insertion of this wording may, taken at its highest, impose an additional limiting restriction, which I know is not the intention. The research performed by the agency has already been asses…

I have spoken to it already.

Amendment No. 15 is an ordinary provision that is completely in line with existing legislation, including the HEA Act. The document specified here could be any communication between the Minister and the board in the ordinary way of ministerial instructions being communicated. There is nothing extraordinary here. The board complying with an instruction of the Minister is mitigated in the Bill by the requirement to deliver on the remit of the agency and the principles guiding the agency, as laid out in the objects an…

Amendment No. 18 deals with section 40 which addresses compliance with the conditions of funding for research and innovation. The agency is already limited by the objects in section 8 and the functions in section 9 and these guide every aspect of its operation. The objects and functions will support and guide all the co-operation it undertakes and this is already captured in section 35(1). Amendments Nos. 21 and 22 relate to section 49 of the Bill which deals with funding partnerships. In accordance with Article 29…

The Senator mentioned ethics and integrity. In section 8(a), the first object to which the agency shall have regard is "to promote the attainment and maintenance of excellence in the standard and quality of research and innovation undertaken". When we flip back to the definitions, "standard and quality", in respect of research and innovation, is defined as "the standard and quality of the research and innovation assessed and evaluated by reference to international good practices in the relevant field of activity or…

Regarding amendments Nos. 85a and 90a, in accordance with Article 29.6 of the Constitution, it is a matter for the Oireachtas to determine the effects of any international agreement in the State. It would not be appropriate to delegate a power to the agency to make secondary legislation purporting to give effect to the decisions of the International Court of Justice or of the European Court of Human Rights. Regarding the International Court of Justice, Article 59 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice…

I restate that the standard for funding awards will be the highest standard of research ethics and integrity and that all of the relevant legal frameworks will apply. Ireland has favoured retaining the civilian focus of the framework programmes and maintaining a clear separation between civilian and defence research. As part of our Department's consultation on the next framework programme, we are consulting the national research and innovation community to inform Ireland's position on all aspects of the programme. …

For amendment No. 94, this provision is already tied into and limited by the functions of the agency. Therefore, there is no need to restate this as proposed. This is already how the section of the Bill will operate and, therefore, we do not propose to accept the amendment.

In conclusion, the functions define the role and remit of the agency within which it needs to operate and deliver on.

Section 51 contains a clause which gives the Minister powers to prescribe bodies to be added to the list contained therein. That will provide a complete description of all agencies and bodies that the agency will be charged with co-operating with as part of a cohesive overall national research and innovation ecosystem. Work is under way to scope and map the additions. When this work is completed, an order will be drafted to add the appropriate bodies to the list. For the moment, however, we are simply including the…

I have nothing further to add.

This is a minor technical amendment which, the Department has been advised, it would be prudent to make in order to ensure clarity and the continuity of the statute in advance of the enactment of the Research and Innovation Bill. There was a technical oversight within the transfer order of 2020. The operation of one of the amendments to the existing statute preceding the 2020 order was complex and somewhat obscure. This resulted in the omission of three provisions. We want to ensure that there is absolute clarity w…

I thank Senators for their engagement. The matters raised will be noted and I will flag them to the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan.