Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 October 2020
488. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the extent to which he expects research facilities to be expanded nationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31668/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraBuilding capacity to respond to challenges and opportunities and to remain competitive is done through sustained investment over many years. Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) is Ireland’s largest competitive funding agency. SFI is committed to building this capacity in 2021 by continuing to place a priority on maintaining a balanced portfolio which places an emphasis on early and advanced research careers, frontiers/discovery and applied research, research projects that are led by individuals and small groups as well as large scale research centres.
The SFI Research Infrastructure (RI) call was launched in February 2018. A major objective of the call was to support the research community in building and sustaining the required infrastructure capacity to accomplish high quality, high impact and innovative STEM research. SFI has awarded close to €38m in funding under this programme since 2018. This significant investment will see new infrastructure and equipment coming on stream which will benefit our national capabilities for years to come.
The expansion of Tyndall National Institute (TNI), a partnership between the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and University College Cork, is identified as a strategic investment priority in Project Ireland 2040. TNI operates at the cutting edge of ICT research and has reached capacity at its current facility in Cork – limiting further growth in researcher numbers, industry engagement, collaborative R&D and its extension into new areas of “deep technology” which will be critical to Ireland’s enterprise development in areas such as cybersecurity, AI, quantum computing, photonics and materials. The TNI expansion plans will double both its size and capacity over the next decade and expand TNI’s role as a leading global ICT research institute.
Work is also underway in my Department to develop the successor strategy to Innovation 2020, Ireland's strategy for research and development, science and technology. This new strategy will once again be a whole-of-Government strategy. I expect the strategy to set out a vision that will ensure we prioritise investing in RDI as key to addressing our economic and social challenges such as climate change, digitalisation and public health. It will also focus on addressing the cross-cutting issues that are essential for maintaining a well-functioning, fit for purpose RDI system capable of addressing these challenges, including a focus on the research infrastructure needed to achieve this. The Strategy will be accompanied by an ambitious work programme across Government to deliver on our common goals.
