In her introductory address, Dr. Gemma Irvine discussed the need to build upon the research system that has developed over the last 20 years and establish a better evidence base to showcase Ireland's strengths in research. She emphasized that every euro spent on research is an investment in Ireland's future. She then outlined some of the key issues to be addressed regarding pay-to-publish and open access models, new publishing deals, and bibliometric analysis tools, before thanking the audience.