Three little letters that could help transform the Irish economy: PhD

Irish Times

28-04-2025

There's a common misconception that all doctors wear white coats, carry stethoscopes, and have terrible handwriting. I'll admit to at least two of the three. But as someone who trained and practised as a medical doctor, I want to talk about a different kind of doctor: the PhD.
A quiet but important transformation is already under way. Census 2022 showed more than 38,000 people in the Republic held a doctoral degree, up 74 per cent since 2011.
In 2022, PhD enrolments increased by 5 per cent compared to the previous academic year, and 26 per cent since 2016. These numbers tell a story of progress, but they also hint at an untapped opportunity.
We need to build a culture in this State that sees the pursuit of a PhD not as a curiosity or a niche calling, but as a viable path for individuals and our national economy.
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Too often, PhD students are imagined as solitary figures in lab coats, fiddling with beakers or analysing arcane data, locked away for years at university, while their peers begin to climb the corporate ladder.
The reality is far more exciting. Today's PhD graduates are fuelling the stburgeoning innovation ecosystem. They are solving real-world problems in industry, public policy, climate, and health. Unlocking a vast array of opportunities in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence. They are exactly the kind of minds we need to compete globally.
In a time of geopolitical uncertainty and economic upheaval, with US tariffs looming and their retreat from international scientific leadership, the State stands at a crossroads. As America turns inward, we have an opportunity to turn outward, to become a global hub for ideas. And ideas, as the economist Daniel Susskind puts it in his recent book, Growth: A Reckoning
,
are what power modern economies.
They can be reused and built upon without running out. It's these endlessly reusable ideas that have driven human progress and economic growth, and they come not from thin air, but from research, education, and, yes, from PhDs.
PhDs are the machines that generate ideas.
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But these ideas don't live in academic journals or university libraries alone. PhD researchers increasingly bring their skills into the heart of industry, working in R&D departments of leading companies, driving innovation, product development, and long-term strategic thinking. More than half of full-time researchers in the EU now work in the business sector.
Companies understand the value of this work. Take Apple, which spends more on research and development (R&D) in a year than the entire United Kingdom government. That's a recognition that investing in knowledge, creativity, and experimentation pays dividends in future products, competitiveness, and growth.
The International Monetary Fund 2024 Fiscal Monitor states that increasing R&D support by 0.5 percentage points of gross domestic product (GDP) annually, or about 50 per cent more than the current level in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development economies, could raise GDP by up to 2 per cent, and reduce a country's debt-to-GDP ratio for an average advanced economy over the following eight years.
That is a powerful return on investment, and one that starts with people. When we support PhDs, we're laying the groundwork for a more innovative, resilient Irish economy.
However, we are entering a more fragmented global economy, with rising protectionism, trade tensions, and tariffs. History shows that these kinds of measures often lead to a decline in international competition. When competition drops, so too does the incentive to innovate.
That's the danger for the Republic. A fall in global competition could trigger a slowdown in R&D investment here. This could create a ripple effect, dragging down productivity, increasing costs for Irish firms, and weakening the innovation spillovers we benefit from by being plugged into a competitive, globalised economy.
The State must go in the opposite direction. We need to double down on investment in knowledge, research, and people.
This Government understands what's at stake, it's right there in the programme for government. But in a time of growing economic uncertainty, we need to seize the initiative. Now is the moment to accelerate the delivery of these commitments.
We must ramp up science, technology, engineering, and mathematics participation across further and higher education, provide greater support for PhD and early-career researchers, and build stronger links between academia and industry.
That means formalising postdoctoral pathways, expanding graduate research funding, and sustaining growth through real collaboration.
We should also deepen EU research and innovation partnerships, especially for SMEs, because innovation shouldn't just happen in labs; it should power our entire economy.
This is how we transform our economy.
And while the benefits to the economy are compelling, we shouldn't overlook the personal upside.
PhD graduates enjoy a significant earnings premium, higher employment rates, and a diversity of career options. A recent Higher Education Authority analysis shows that doctoral graduates in the Republic enter the labour market successfully and maintain higher earnings for at least a decade post-graduation. Their skills are in demand both at home and abroad.
Roughly a third of Irish PhD graduates are working overseas seven years after graduation. While that might sound like brain drain, it's actually soft power. These graduates carry Irish research, values, and influence into global institutions.
And when they return, as many do, they enrich our research ecosystem with international experience, ideas, and networks.
It's time we recognised the true value of a doctorate. Not just as a title, but as a tool for building 's future.
Martin Daly is a Fianna Fáil TD for the Roscommon–Galway constituency