Public Consultation on the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications Research and Innovation Strategy

The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, have set out our vision of a climate neutral, sustainable, and digitally connected Ireland. This will involve us leading ambitious climate and environment action across Government and society together with a fundamental shift in sustainable resource use and a transformation of our energy system, delivering world-class connectivity and cyber security for Ireland. Research and innovation are important for enabling these goals, and are key to tackling the challenges Ireland faces.

The Research and Development Budget: 2021 to 2022 identifies that the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications are one of five of the largest investing Departments in research and innovation. Impact 2030, the national research and innovation strategy, outlines a strong role for our Department in delivering on Strategic Objectives in Climate, Environment and Sustainability (including Energy), and in Digital Transformation (including cyber security).

During 2023, we are developing our inaugural Research and Innovation Strategy to ensure that the Department brings an improved strategic focus to how we use and fund research and innovation, that we at the forefront of research-for-policymaking, and that we champion a culture that provides innovative ideas to the challenges we face, from cyber security to energy security and supply.

We are inviting contributions and submissions from interested persons and organisations on what they consider should form part of our forthcoming Research and Innovation Strategy.

In order to assist you in making a submission, we have prepared a short consultation document setting out the background to the Research and Innovation Strategy, with accompanying questions to be considered.

This consultation document sets out the background and context for research and innovation in the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, including an overview of current research and innovation activities that we fund, support and engage in.

We would kindly request that you read and consider the consultation document before completing your submission.

We are asking all interested parties to make their submission to the consultation using the online survey tool provided in the link below. The online survey tool poses a short number of questions which are also set out in the consultation document. We invite you to respond to some or all of the questions. A space will be provided at the end for any additional comments. The suggested word count for each response is 350-400 words (maximum 2000 characters, including spaces). Responses can be made in Irish or English.

The survey can be found on the EU Survey website.

Please note that this tool requires you to use a current generation web browser such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or similar.

The closing date for receipt of submissions is 5.30pm, Friday, 11 August 2023.

If you have difficulties submitting a response online, or would like to make a submission by email please email evan.argue@decc.gov.ie

If you would prefer to make a submission by post you can send it to:

Research and Innovation Strategy

Environment and Climate Research and Advisory Unit

Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications

29 – 31 Adelaide Road,

Dublin 2, D02 X285.

Data Protection

We are committed to engaging with stakeholders in a clear, open and transparent manner. Any person or organisation can make a submission in relation to this consultation. All submissions and feedback will be considered before the final version of the Research and Innovation Strategy is published.

Please note that responses to this consultation are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (FOI), Access to Information on the Environment Regulations 2007-2018 (AIE) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Please also note that we intend to publish the contents of all submissions received to our consultations on our website. We will redact personal data prior to publication. In responding to this consultation, parties should clearly indicate where their responses contain personal information, commercially sensitive information or confidential information which they would not wish to be released under FOI, AIE or otherwise published.

We would like to draw your attention to our Data Privacy Notice which explains how and when we collect personal data, why we do so and how we treat this information. It also explains your rights in relation to the collection of personal information and how you can exercise those rights.

Industry Submissions

Group/Organisation Submissions

Individual Submissions