Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2020
1030. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the administrative process and computational method of allocating funding to specific institutions under the support for contract researchers and research students whose work has been seriously disrupted by the pandemic. [33576/20]
View answerCOVID-19 has, as elsewhere, caused major disruption to all activities at our higher education institutions (HEIs). This includes their research activities because laboratories have been closed as part of wider campus closures and access to archives, engagement with focus groups, etc., have also been curtailed.
Consequently, many researchers and research students whose contracts are approaching conclusion are, in effect, unable to complete their work because they do not have the financial resources to continue the work beyond its original completion date. As well as the negative impact on the researchers themselves, this also means that Exchequer funding to date invested in the projects risks being lost because the work is not finished. From the funder perspective, while many have worked with their funded researchers to seek ways around this problem, for example, in the form of no-cost extensions, any use of their budget for costed extensions automatically depletes their future budget availability.
As part of the €168m Exchequer funding that the Department obtained, €47.7m was secured to assist in the provision of costed extensions to research activities that are at risk because of delays incurred as a result of COVID-19. The amount secured for this purpose reflects discussions that have been held with institutions on the financial ramifications of the pandemic crisis.
The aims of the funding are:
- Primarily to assist those researchers and research students whose work has been significantly disrupted by the COVID-19 crisis, most typically those who are coming to the end of their contract/ studies by the end of 2020
- To ensure completion of valuable research work and protection of the Exchequer investments made to date.
- To protect national research funders’ future budgets by providing dedicated support for costed extensions and by restoring budgetary levels through institutional reimbursement of any cost extension funding received to date from national funders.
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) has responsibility for the allocation of these monies and has worked with the institutional representative bodies and research funders to coordinate the process. It was agreed that it was in the interest of the researchers and the research ecosystem to develop a coordinated approach at a system level to delivering on the HEA Cost Extension Budget, with no undue doubling of effort.
The administrative process and computational method of allocating funding to specific institutions is outlined in the attached document.
