Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
1306. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will increase the annual PhD stipend to reflect the increases in the costs of living; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42675/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra1307. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will tie future rates of PhD stipends to the consumer price index in order that stipends accurately account for the current costs of living for students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42676/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra1308. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he intends on making it a requirement of State funding to higher education establishments that they pay a stipend of at least €28,000 per year to postgraduate students undertaking PhD studies given the important work that they do; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42750/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 1306, 1307 and 1308 together.
I should first say that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are autonomous bodies as set out in legislation and as such the management of their academic affairs are generally a matter for the institution in question.
On the issue of stipends in general, a stipend is a well-established feature of funded postgraduate awards globally, providing an income to the awardee in recognition of the need to devote themselves on a full-time basis to their research. My Department provides funding for postgraduate research through both Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the Irish Research Council (IRC). Funding is also provided by other statutory funders and, of course, private funders. Some students also self-fund.
My Department is monitoring the issue of stipends, in the context of the resources available and the competing needs to which they can be allocated. In that regard, the Minister allocated additional funding to the IRC in 2021 to enable it to increase postgraduate scholarship by €2,500 per annum, or 16%. This was made effective from 1 January 2021 and, together with an increase to funding for postdoctoral salaries, benefited close to 1,300 early-career researchers in the system. The move also aligned the stipend level for the IRC and SFI.
On 1 July, the Taoiseach and I announced a new partnership between industry and the Government to recruit and retain research talent.
Innovate for Ireland is an important collaboration between industry and the Government and will make a significant contribution to the aims of our research and innovation strategy.
The initial phase of the Innovate for Ireland initiative will seek to attract up to 400 high calibre PhD students to undertake research in Ireland that tackles national and global grand challenges.
An attractive package, including a stipend of €28,000, will be awarded through the programme to the small number of successful PhD students who will undertake the research over the next 10 years.
The Government is committed to meeting the ambition set out in Impact 2030, Ireland’s national research and innovation strategy, that researchers and innovators working in Ireland should have the best possible experience and to make the biggest possible difference.
