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Funding will go towards a number of areas, including search and rescue research projects and innovative shelter concepts.
Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris, TD and Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless, TD have today (5 March) announced that €3.2m in funding will be put towards developing new technologies for the Irish Defence Forces.
The investment will enable innovative team-led research projects, for example proposals to enhance Ireland’s naval capabilities, encourage the use of drones for search and rescue efforts, support aeromedical emergency services, develop advanced shelter designs and generate ideas for disruptive technologies.
Celine Fitzgerald, the interim CEO at Research Ireland, explained that the investment will be dispersed via challenge-based research. This is a model that supports collaboration between researchers, agencies such as the Defence Forces and the people who are directly affected by the problems they aim to solve. The aim is to develop new technologies, aligned with national defence policy, that will have a strong societal impact on Ireland.
Lieutenant general Sean Clancy, chief of staff of the Defence Forces, said: “Óglaigh na hÉireann is proud to support the Research Ireland-Defence Innovation Challenge with military subject matter experts. These personnel will provide both operational context and an understanding of the key challenges faced by defence personnel in an effort to enhance defence capability.
“Four key challenges were identified by the Defence Forces which were posed to Irish researchers: maritime situational awareness, advanced shelter concepts, aeromedical emergency service dispatch, and search and rescue.”
Harris said: “This funding is not only designed to benefit our Defence Forces personnel, but also wider society as a whole. I welcome the fact that there are members of the Defence Forces, Civil Defence and the Office of Emergency Planning embedded into each research team.
“This collaboration will foster a deep understanding of both the challenges and the role research can play in addressing them. I look forward to seeing the progress the teams make over the coming months.”
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