Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 November 2023
666. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science further to Parliamentary Question No. 43 of 14 November 2023, if he will provide the total expenditure on research partnerships, arrangements or any other joint work that was entered into in the years 2021, 2022 and 2023, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52017/23]
View answerMy Department has provided funding through the Higher Education Authority (HEA), the Irish Research Council (IRC) and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) to fund North/South projects, details of which are highlighted as follows.
The North South Research Programme (NSRP) is a collaborative scheme arising from the Government’s Shared Island initiative at the Department of the Taoiseach, supporting the strengthening of links between researchers, research communities and higher education institutions (HEIs) across the island of Ireland. It is being delivered by the HEA on behalf of my Department.
The total value of the funding supporting the NSRP is €55.6m, comprising the 2021 allocation of €40m from the Shared Island Unit, a HEA contribution of €5.6m, and an additional €10m granted by the Shared Island Unit in December 2022. The initial Shared Island allocation of €40m allocation is inclusive of a 5% administrative top slice (€2m) to support the delivery of the programme by the HEA.
Under the first call of the NSRP, 62 projects were awarded funding to a total value of €37.28m following an independent assessment process.
Projects commenced in 2022 with funding to be disbursed on a phased basis and subject to ongoing compliance with the terms and conditions of the NSRP and satisfactory reporting on progress to the HEA. To date, projects have received two instalments of funding – the first on project commencement and the second disbursed at the outset of the second year of project implementation and following satisfactory reporting to the HEA.
The following table sets out the aggregate payments made to projects 2022 – 2023. It excludes expenditure in respect of administration.
|
North South Research Programme (NSRP) |
- |
|
Year |
Project Payments |
|
2021 |
- |
|
2022 |
€16,250,000 |
|
2023 |
€11,717,886 |
Expenditure made by the IRC over two cycles of New Foundations funded by Shared Island is set out in the following table.
|
New Foundations |
- |
|
2023 |
€35,640.55 |
|
2022 |
€176,067.70 |
|
2021 |
€128,422.72 |
|
2020 |
N/A |
Expenditure made through the US-Ireland R&D programme for the past three years, which involves partnership with the two universities in Northern Ireland (as well as in the US), is set out as follows. This shows both the SFI expenditure and the corresponding Northern Ireland amounts committed by the Northern Ireland funders.
Note that this is the total expenditure by SFI in each year 2021 - 2023 for new awards.
US-Ireland funding commitments made for awards issued in 2021 – 2023
|
Calendar year |
Number of awards |
Total SFI funding |
Total NI funding* |
|
2021 |
7 |
€2,656,429 |
£2,015,199 (€2,317,478) |
|
2022 |
12 |
€3,428,141 |
£3,745,245 (€4,307,031) |
|
2023 (to date) |
6 |
€3,789,873 |
£1,779,803 (€2,046,773) |
|
Totals |
25 |
€9,874,443 |
£7,540,247 (€8,671,284) |
*Funding provided by either Department for the Economy NI, or HSC Research and Development NI to support parallel research in Northern Ireland under one tripartite US-Ireland award.
