(1)In light of the decline in research funding in the Republic, what plans has he put in place to support and strengthen higher education institutions to resist potential bias in areas such as health research arising from corporate funding;
(2) whether there are any ongoing and/or planned initiatives to enhance the capacity of (a) public health academics and (b) research ethics committees to identify and manage conflicts of interest in health research; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?