2026-05-12

162. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he is satisfied that there are sufficient higher education places in STEM disciplines in Cork to meet projected regional demand over the next five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34332/26]

I am aware of the Deputy's interest in STEM, drug discovery, life sciences, pharmaceuticals and all those related matters. They are also a key priority for me, as is support for STEM overall, as well as being a key strategic priority for the Government, given its increasing criticality to economic growth, to resilience, future skills needs and regional development. I know the Deputy is very close to that in Cork with a number of significant employers in this space. In relation to Cork particularly, the provision of higher education places in STEM is kept under review through workforce planning and higher education institutions. My Department also supports a network of regional skills forums to help employers to address their skills needs. I will be in Cork this week. On Thursday, I will be visiting UCC, among other venues. Part of the conversation, as it always is, is understanding their requirements, needs and skills and making sure they have a strong STEM ecosystem in place. Of course, they do. The presidents of both UCC and MTU, Professor O'Halloran and Professor Cusack, provide significant STEM courses and options, along with the ETB STEM pathways through the tertiary system. There is a number of tertiary degrees with a STEM focus being delivered in Cork. I advise anybody engaging with students to make them aware of the tertiary degree paths, because these are ways that students can enter third level and higher education through local FET colleges and local ETBs. Fees are nominal. They may be €50 but may not even be that much in some cases. Students can progress into second year and move into a more traditional university for third year and beyond. There is a number of tertiary courses in STEM as well. Significantly, I recently visited the Tyndall National Institute in Cork, where I made a €160 million commitment in terms of building out the next generation of semiconductors, photonics and quantum and AI technologies. It is a world-leading institution. That was the first output of my new INSPIRE research programme. That is money well spent in the Cork area.

I will take from the Minister's response that he is satisfied or somewhat satisfied that enough courses are being filled and enough graduates are coming through the pipeline. The Minister knows the importance of Cork. He outlined it himself. According to the Irish Examiner, we are home to seven of the top ten pharmaceutical companies in the world. Approximately 14,000 people are employed across Cork in those pharmaceutical companies. We are a hub for the global life sciences. Maintaining that position is imperative for us in Cork. The most important thing that can help us to maintain that competitive edge is our people. As the Minister has said, UCC and MTU do phenomenal work. He mentioned the Tyndall National Institute. We are a hub of innovation. We are looking to grow the 14,000 jobs to 21,000 jobs by 2027. There have been recent job announcements by Eli Lilly, Regeneron and AbbVie. The demand is quite clear. The question is whether our STEM pipeline can keep up. Fundamentally, the Minister's stat data here is saying that while we have the highest proportion of graduates, we are going to come under increasing pressure in the coming years.

I thank the Deputy. I would welcome his input, with his strong local knowledge and policy knowledge of the area, for STEM provision in Cork in particular. If he thinks there are particular gaps that we need to fill or areas we need to work on or address, I would welcome that engagement. One of the policy initiatives I am pursuing is a widening of our doctoral programmes because many STEM workers ultimately come through PhD programmes. Many of those go on to work in industry. I think up to 90% of them do. The earning potential of those with doctorates is significantly ahead of undergraduates coming out at earlier stages. The statistics show us that those with doctorates are more likely to found campus companies or to go on to very successful enterprises afterward. Between the Tyndall National Institute, which I mentioned already, and other activities where we are investing in research and research funding, I opened this morning the first call for the more general round of the INSPIRE programme. A total of €150 million is being made available, and I strongly expect Cork to be making significant bids and submissions of interest to replace the foundational equipment across each university, labs, libraries, equipment, etc., as a refresh and rebuild module. That is the first phase and it is open as of today.

If the Minister asks, he will receive my local knowledge. I visited a company recently. I will not name the company, but I would love for the Minister to visit it at some stage - maybe not this Thursday because I know his schedule is full, but perhaps at another stage when he is in Cork. This company employs 65,000 people internationally, 500 of whom are in Cork and based in the city centre. The vast majority of them are PhD graduates. I recently attended there in late January. A total of 80% of their workforce have had to be brought in from abroad because they cannot satisfy what is required here in Ireland. That then has knock-on effects for housing and renting. These people are in high-paid jobs but struggle to even get a rental. We genuinely need to put the money in domestically, as well as bringing in international expertise. That is part of what we have to do. That is part of the success story to keep fuelling this. I was listening to a previous question in relation to the number of people coming in from abroad undertaking courses here and so on. There is a balance there. Nobody is saying we do not need foreign people to come in and study here, of course we do, but there is a balance there that we need to strive for. This particular company would put a spotlight on some of the difficulties that are coming down the pipeline.

That is important to hear. I have set up what I call a skills roundtable series of events where I am engaging with sectoral employers. The first event took place about six weeks ago in Grangegorman with a range of employers. I am hosting a construction skills event with the Minister, Deputy Harkin, and the Minister, Deputy Browne, later this month to hear from different construction employers such as the Construction Industry Federation, etc. I will be talking to AI and professional services employers before the summer, and then moving onto life sciences. I think pharmaceuticals will be the next up. The Deputy may have an interest in that and may wish to suggest attendees. Perhaps the company he referred to may be a suitable panellist at that. The entire point of that exercise is to engage with employers and with industry in the same room as my training agency, SOLAS, the HEA, the ETBs, etc.; to have the conversation in real time; to ask what the gaps and needs are; and to ascertain what patterns are coming through. Are they being supplied with the relevant competencies? Is the training system providing? One of the findings from the most recent event was that transversal skills need to be increased in terms of communication, analytical ability, teamwork and those sorts of universal skills, which are not as specialist as some courses might provide, but are ultimately foundational to everything.