Researchers seek funding as economy turns corner

Let's start counting our chickens, now that the Government is flush with money. It is high time for the research ecosystem to start benefiting from all the austerity and begin picking up where things left off in 2008. We have every reason to believe that research spending should begin to increase. Ministers have been talking up the economy, rising employment and shrinking debt over many months, encouraging people to believe that the corner has been well turned and we are quickly headed for Easy Street.

You don't believe the Ministers or the Tánaiste or the Taoiseach? Last week the Revenue Commissioners delivered the happy news to Government about a tax surge from the multinationals that was bringing in lots of extra money. We had the unusual situation with the Government quizzing Revenue why there had been an €800 million over performance in corporation tax receipts last month, only to be told it was strong trading conditions and that the wash of extra money seemed likely to persist into the coming months. Woohoo!

Queue

The research community and the

higher education institutions

had better pick up the pace, however, and get themselves into the queue to request extra money as soon as possible. Other interested parties have responded to the message and are in the queue already. Unions have indicated that more money is needed, and civil service unions have already struck deals to return some of the pay lost during the crash. Transport unions are there too, train and bus, either conducting industrial action or threatening it.

The National Library is also in the queue ahead of the scientists, warning Government that if they didn’t get more money, 75 per cent of the national collection is at risk of deterioration or fire. They are only looking for a planned investment of about €500,000 a year for a few years. Good luck to them as the collection is well worth protecting.

The long wind-down of capital spending forced on the Government because of the crash has caused a lot of problems. Government is being lambasted at the moment for failing to respond in any meaningful way to the housing crisis and growing homelessness. Health needs more money, education needs more money, everyone is looking for more money.

All the boom-time talk will certainly encourage the research community and the higher education institutions to hope that more funding might become available. Certainly it is badly needed. The squeeze on capital spending over the past few years has taken millions out of the university budgets, with researcher/ lecturers pointing out that with rising class sizes there is less time to conduct research.

Money for buildings and facilities was also cut, leaving a lot of what used to be described as the “latest” equipment looking tired and out of date. Many researchers have commented in recent times on how reduced time and ageing analytical devices are having an impact on research activity. You can’t do world-class research without the necessary tools and you can’t do world-class research or any kind of research if you haven’t been given time to pursue it.

Unemployment is falling which is a good thing, but in the main this will not have an impact on the working environment of researchers other than through the Government having more money and giving some of it to the research community.

Also, if the higher education institutions had more money perhaps they would be able to replace posts that are not being filled, which in turn might help shrink class sizes.

Emigrants

Another difficult question is what news of a rising tide will do to the Irish emigrant researchers who populate laboratories and shiny new buildings in places such as the US, Canada, Australia and Britain. Is the tidal water deep enough to coax them back into Irish waters?

The answer to this depends on the Government's new strategy for science, technology and innovation, originally planned for publication last month but now due in early December. This will reveal Government intent on how it wants science and research to develop in the coming years. And it may or may not talk euros, an expression of its determination to make the strategy work.

If the goals set out in the strategy sound right and if there is money to back this up then it is almost certain scientists and humanities researchers will return, hoping to share in the Government's largesse (assuming it is there to be shared). Just as importantly, if the strategy and the funding are of sufficient quality then this should also attract the attention of high-quality foreign-based scientists who are also entitled to apply for research grants.