Departmental Contracts

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 November 2023

Tuesday, 21 November 2023

Questions (597, 598)

Paul Murphy

Question:

597. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his Department has any current contracts with any Israeli state agency, any Israeli-based company or any company based elsewhere in the world which is owned or part-owned by any Israeli state agency or by any Israeli-based company; and if so, the value of those contracts. [51046/23]

Paul Murphy

Question:

598. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his Department or any of its agencies are involved in any exercise, operation, training or research which includes involvement by any Israeli state agency, any Israeli-based company or any company based elsewhere in the world which is owned or part-owned by any Israeli state agency or by any Israeli-based company. [51064/23]

Written answers

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Deputy Simon Harris)

My Department and Irish Further and Higher Education Institutions engage internationally with Israel in a number of forums in the context of cultural, educational, scientific innovation and academic partnerships and collaborations in the sphere of further and higher education. These forums include the OECD, Council of Europe and UN etc. Examples of such collaboration/partnerships include the Erasmus+ student exchange programme and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) funded collaborative research programmes.

The Higher Education Authority, as the National Agency for the Erasmus Plus programme at higher education, participate in the following partnerships:

Year	Irish HEI	Israeli HEI	Irish Outgoing	Incoming
2023	TCD	Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bar Ilan University	25	25
2023	UCD	Bar Ilan University	1	1
2022	TCD	Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bar Ilan University	11	11

Science Foundation Ireland’s 2022 research outputs note that there are 38 collaborations between SFI-funded researchers and researchers within Israel, of which:

· One third of the engagements are with the Weizmann Institute of Science & Tel Aviv University. · University of Galway accounts for one third of collaborations and UCC, 20%.

· APC Microbiome Ireland SFI Research Centre and Curam - SFI Research Centre for Medical Devices, have 4 and 3 collaborations respectively. · The main areas covered are biomedicine, immunity & infection, and microbiology. · There are about 15 non-academic links with companies, including Agilent Technologies Israel & IBM Israel. My officials have no knowledge of any non-educational commercial relationships with any Israeli state agencies or companies. Further detail on these educational, cultural and scientific/academic linkages can be obtained from relevant agencies as set out below.

Name of Body

Dedicated Email address for the Members of the Oireachtas

Designated Official Responsible for assisting Oireachtas Members

Higher Education Authority	[e-mail]	Padraic Mellett*
Irish Research Council( Note 1)	[e-mail]	Padraic Mellett*
Grangegorman Development Agency	[e-mail]	[e-mail]
SOLAS	[e-mail]	Maria Walsh [e-mail]
Skillnets Ltd	[e-mail]	[e-mail]
Quality and Qualifications Ireland	[e-mail]	[e-mail]

Léargas – The Exchange Bureau	[e-mail]	[e-mail]
Science Foundation Ireland	Science Foundation Ireland	Ciara Cotter

Note 1 – In regard to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and the Irish Research Council (IRC) as the IRC operates under the auspices of the HEA. Mr Mellett will address Oireachtas queries for both the HEA and IRC. Please use [e-mail] and [e-mail] respectively to contact Mr Mellett.