Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 December 2025
256. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the way in which her Department is strengthening the commercialisation of publicly funded research to ensure more innovations and jobs are retained in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67807/25]
View answerMy Department is strengthening the commercialisation of publicly funded research by prioritising the research and innovation agenda as a key economic and social enabler for Ireland, recognising its importance to national competitiveness, resilience and productivity.
The recently published Action Plan for Competitiveness and Productivity clearly recognises the centrality of research and innovation to Ireland's future economic performance. My department and Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland will work with the HEA, the higher education institutions, and with Enterprise Ireland to ensure that the creation and delivery of commercialisation opportunities by researchers is valued, incentivised in terms of academic progression, and that the route to commercialisation is as fully enabled as possible.
My department is also developing a High-Performance Computing Strategy on a cross-Government basis, encompassing Quantum, High Performance Computing, AI and data infrastructures to enhance Ireland’s competitiveness in deep tech, strengthen Ireland’s public research system, enable greater participation in EU initiatives and support innovative start-ups.
Three new Research Ireland ARC Hubs – the ARC Hub for Therapeutics (led by TCD), the ARC Hub for ICT (led by TUD) and the ARC Hub for HealthTech (led by University of Galway), are supported by €98m co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union under two European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Programmes - the Southern, Eastern and Midland Regional Programme 2021-2027 and the Northern and Western Regional Programme 2021-2027. The ARC Hubs drive regional development by accelerating novel, cutting-edge research, towards commercial impact readiness, in areas aligned with Ireland’s Smart Specialisation Strategy for Innovation 2022-2027 (S3) and respective regional strategic priorities.
Research Ireland Centres play a key role in building and maintaining a pipeline of highly skilled and talented individuals who will support local enterprise, continue to attract multinational companies, and drive innovation across all sectors in Ireland.
The Research Ireland Centres for Research Training (CRTs) are cohort-based PhD programmes that nurture and develop highest-level skills, with six CRTs across the country in the areas of AI, data science, genomics, machine learning, digitally enhanced reality and advanced networks for sustainable societies, to meet the need for a pipeline of highly trained, well-networked research talent in areas of strategic priority for Ireland.
