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 practiced as a medical doctor and is now committed to securing Ireland’s future through my work in Dáil Éireann, I want to talk about a different kind of doctor: The PhD.
In Ireland, we pride ourselves on being the ‘Land of Saints and Scholars’. While our saintly side may have taken a hit in recent decades, our scholarly tradition remains a national asset, and it’s time we doubled down on it.
A quiet but important transformation is already underway. Census 2022 showed more than 38,000 people in Ireland held a doctorate degree, up 74% since 2011. In 2022 PhD enrolments increased by 5% compared to the previous academic year, and 26% since 2016. These numbers tell a story of progress, but they also hint at an untapped opportunity.
We need to build a culture in Ireland that sees the pursuit of a PhD not as a curiosity or a niche calling, but as a viable, even vital, path for individuals and for our national economy.
Of course, we must also tackle the myths. 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 broader, and far more exciting. Today’s PhD graduates are fuelling Ireland’s burgeoning 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 AI. They are building our country’s future. And they are exactly the kind of minds we need to compete globally.
In a world rocked by geopolitical uncertainty and economic upheaval, with US tariffs looming and their retreat from international scientific leadership, Ireland stands at a crossroads. As America turns inward, we have an opportunity to turn outward and upward, 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. Susskind explains that unlike physical resources, ideas are non-rival. 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.
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. In fact, 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, a company at the absolute frontier of global innovation, which spends more on R&D in a year than the entire UK government. That’s not a coincidence. It’s a recognition that investing in knowledge, creativity, and experimentation pays dividends in future products, competitiveness, and growth.
And the data backs it up. The IMF 2024 Fiscal Monitor states that increasing R&D support by 0.5 percentage points of GDP annually, or about 50% more than the current level in OECD economies, could raise GDP by up to 2%, 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 building the talent pipeline that feeds this research ecosystem. 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 Ireland. A fall in global competition could trigger a slowdown in R&D investment here at home. This wouldn’t just be a dip in funding, it 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.
Put simply: we cannot afford to let this happen.
At a time when other economies may be turning inward, Ireland must go in the opposite direction. We need to double down on investment in knowledge, research, and people. We must ensure that the talent, skills, and ambition of our PhD graduates are harnessed to keep Ireland competitive, creative, and resilient in an uncertain world.
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 STEM 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.
Some will say this isn’t the time for bold investment. I say it’s exactly the time. 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 contrary to stereotype, a diversity of career options. A recent Higher Education Authority analysis shows that doctoral graduates in Ireland 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, and that’s no bad thing.
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. As we’ve seen in recent weeks, Irish influence abroad is now more important than ever. And when they return, as many do, they enrich our research ecosystem with international experience, ideas, and networks.
Let’s end the tired jokes that a PhD student is “still in college” while their friends are climbing the corporate ladder. Let’s invest in the future, by investing in the people who will shape it.
So yes, not all doctors wear stethoscopes. Some wear graduation hoods, juggle teaching loads, write furious grant applications, and brew better coffee than most cafes. But their work powers economies, changes lives, and brings Ireland closer to becoming the innovation island we have the potential to be.
It’s time we recognised the true value of a doctorate. Not just as a title, but as a tool for building Ireland’s future.
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