On behalf of the Irish Research Staff Association, which represents salaried research staff in higher education, I thank the Chair and the committee for the opportunity to participate in this process.
The research ecosystem is a central driver of Ireland’s long-term social and economic development and our ability to compete on the global stage. Yet, at present, for too many researchers, research in Ireland is not a particularly attractive career. Ireland, for example, is the only country in the European Union where researchers' salaries are lower than the mean across the entire economy. There is virtual universality of employment on serial contracts of very short duration, and exclusion from promotion schemes and tenure-track positions.
Researchers, for example, do not have the same progression and promotion opportunities as other public servants. Researchers may also experience barriers to collective bargaining, may be excluded from strategic decision-making as a profession, and may lack parity in the treatment of their disciplines. They may also experience systemic barriers to communication and networking.
The burden falls unequally depending on gender, disability status, socioeconomic class and other demographics. Those barriers to building sustained, independent research portfolios mean the system often does not select for excellence, if one likes, but rather for those with better means to ride out unfavourable terms and conditions.
All of that aligns to make it very difficult to attract and retain researchers in the system, and creates difficulties for academic grant holders to staff projects. This puts major grant awards at risk. It affects the competitiveness and sustainability of our institutions, which already lack the sufficient permanent staff to reliably deliver world-class education and research into the future.
In response, and pursuant chiefly to heads 8, 9, 40, and 41, we recommend that, first, the new funding agency and its work be founded upon a commitment to increase public research funding to a percentage of GDP at least in line with competitor countries. Second, in co-operation with researchers, academics, ourselves in the IRSA, trade unions and higher education institutions, HEIs, that the new agency must prioritise, set targets for, and implement dedicated, collaboratively-designed funding instruments specifically to reduce precarity. That process should be guided by the implementation of a thorough examination of precarity, as was recommended by this committee in 2022. Third, the implementation of ring-fenced public funding to facilitate and ensure career stability and progression and reduce precarity, as was also a recommendation of this committee previously. Fourth, the implementation of instruments to support tenure-track research positions across different career tracks, including traditional academic posts, research- and teaching-focused posts with parity of esteem. Finally, as a condition of funding, that employers abide by collective and sector-wide agreements on pay, pay scales and conditions; reduce reliance on precarious employment; have regular consultations with researchers as stakeholders; and advance equality, diversity and inclusion, EDI objectives.
Good governance of the proposed research funding agency is paramount. With reference particularly to heads 15, 17, 28, and 29 of the Bill, we propose inclusion in both board membership and the planning and consultation activities and processes of the agency, with expertise from across the diverse range of knowledge areas in order that the board is representative of the research ecosystem. We also propose that all stakeholder groups are represented in the board membership and in the planning and operations of the agency. The IRSA wishes to seek the right to make nominations to that board and finally, seeks to ensure that the board appointments process is marked by transparency and accountability.
With reference to heads 8, 9, 40, and 41, it is crucial that we have parity of esteem between the STEM fields and the arts, humanities, and social sciences; parity between the basic or "blue sky" and applied research fields; and parity across career stages in terms of meaningful input and inclusion in decision-making at strategic levels. With reference to inclusion, a sector that is reliant on precarious employment is not satisfying imperatives for equality, diversity and inclusion.
Barriers to data collection and communication need to be addressed, as they affect effective monitoring of employment conditions, precarity, strategic planning, professional network formation, and research collaboration at scale. The present Bill ought to institute transparent, open data collection on the workforce across the sector, and ease of communication between actors. This may be most closely related to head 41.
In closing, the IRSA thanks the committee for the opportunity to participate today. We offer our collaboration to promote sustainable social and economic development on the island.
