Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 June 2021
1076. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the percentage of the total grant allocation for higher education estimated to go on research and which is counted towards public research and development spend; the details of the way this estimation is calculated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31822/21]
View answerThe Government’s funding for research and innovation (R&I) in the higher education sector comes in two forms:
- Direct government funding comes via various government Departments and Agencies to fund research projects which are performed in the higher education sector.
- Indirect government funding is distributed by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to the higher education institutions in the form of an annual "recurrent grant". The allocation of this funding is for a variety of purposes on behalf of my Department.
This is standard practice in all OECD countries that operate a dual system of higher education funding – direct and indirect (General University Funding). The system for reporting on higher education expenditure on research and innovation follows the guidelines set out in the OECD’s Frascati Manual.
The size of the R&I component of the recurrent grant is based on the proportion of time spent on research at the institution by the permanent academic staff, and applying that proportion to the overall funding of departmental R&I activities.
Expenditure on R&I is measured by way of the HERD Survey (Higher Education Research & Development). The latest HERD survey indicates that the amount of indirect funding amounted to €308.2m while the overall HERD figure was €876.1m. As a percentage, we can therefore say that 35% of the recurrent grant allocation for higher education institutions went on research for the academic year 2018-2019.
The HERD Survey is undertaken every two years and the latest iteration was published in January 2021. It can be accessed on:
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/00d67-higher-education-research-and-development-survey-2018-2019/
My Department allocates recurrent funding to the HEA for direct disbursement to their designated higher education institutions. The HEA allocates this funding as a block grant to the institutions, covering such areas as teaching and learning and research. As autonomous bodies, the internal disbursement of this funding is a matter for the individual institution.
