Sean Sherlock Email & Phone Number

Ireland

Dublin/ Cork

Elected Representative/ Member of Dáil Éireann, Constituency of Cork East

Dublin, Leinster, Ireland

Public Policy

Working to the conclusions of the Citizens Assembly recommendations this committee has made 40+ recommendations to hit our 2030/2050 Climate Targets.

Minister of State for Research and Innovation, at the Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation and the Department of Education and SkillsAreas of focus within my brief as Minister for Research and Innovation are:Supporting the agenda for Research, Development and Innovation and ensuring it is a strong driver of growth.Prioritising public investment in Research, Development and Innovation so we obtain the greatest possible return on our investment in terms of jobs, new intellectual property and technologies, winning more FDI investment and getting enhanced technologies and ideas rapidly from research to companies that will commercialise them; and in addition, I have a responsibility to ensure that our education system is lining up the skills and expertise needed for the future. Our emerging workforce will need skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths and these skills must be fostered from the early days of school life.

In the context of the broader objective of accelerating economic outcomes from our investment in research the Research Prioritisation Report recommended 14 areas of opportunity which should receive the majority of public investment in STI over the coming 5 years. The areas were identified on the basis of existing strengths of research disciples and the enterprise base, opportunities that exist in terms of the global marketplace anto deliver economic and societal impact, and jobs. Areas which responded to a national/global challenges were also taken into consideration as well as areas where publicly performed R&D is required to exploit an opportunity and complement private sector funding. The Government agreed to the adoption of the report’s recommendations as a whole of Government policy goal and the future alignment of the majority of public STI investment with these 14 areas of opportunity. Implementation of prioritisation will chart the course for future development of policy in this area. Following publication of the report on 1 March 2012, the Prioritisation Action Group (PAG) was established, under the chairmanship and political leadership of myself as Minister.Membership of the Prioritisation Action Group (PAG) is drawn from Government Depts The continued support of Forfás is crucial following its key role as secretariat to the Research Prioritisation Steering Group. It was agreed that there are two main pillars to implementation. The first pillar involves maximising the impact of our spend by focussing the majority of public STI funding on the 14 priority areas identified in the Report and the second pillar involves implementation of the 13 systemic changes necessary to support prioritisation by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our STI system. Through implementation of prioritisation the PAG aims to connect, coordinate, validate and where necessary change the behaviour of research funders to align with the 14/13 priorities.

Committee has current oversight of Action Plans for Jobs through a number of Departments. Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation is a lead Department underpinning Government Strategy for job creation, answerable to An Taoiseach through this Cabinet Sub Committee

Ireland

Labour Party Spokesperson on Agriculture and Food. Oversight of Party Policy for agriculture and Food Industry.

Advocacy Role, performance of usual reserved functions of a Member of a local authority

Leader of Mallow Town Council.