Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 April 2024
757. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the status of Ireland’s national supercomputer; the length of time remaining on its lifespan or if it has been decommissioned; when a new supercomputer will be available to academia, industry, and Government Departments and agencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19088/24]
View answer758. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he has approached the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment regarding co-funding for procuring Ireland’s new national supercomputer; if not, the reason therefor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19089/24]
View answer759. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science how powerful Ireland’s current national supercomputer is; how powerful the new national supercomputer will be; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19090/24]
View answer760. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his Department has considered making the Irish centre for high end-computing a standalone State agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19091/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 757, 758, 759 and 760 together.
Since 2005 the Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) has made high-performance computing (HPC) resources available to all researchers based in Irish third-level institutions. Their services are also available to users in industry and the public sector.
ICHEC’s current high-performance computer, Kay, was due to reach its effective end of life in November 2023. In anticipation of this and in order to maintain the existing level of HPC provision to the academic and enterprise community, an interim service was deployed to maintain the provision of a public HPC service, pending a strategic review of HPC provision in Ireland. A tender was published by ICHEC in July 2023 seeking compute resources with a similar environment and user interface as that provided by Kay. Subsequently this contract was awarded in November 20232 to LuxProvide, the HPC organization operating Luxembourg’s supercomputer MeluXina which is part of the EUs network of supercomputers. Irish researchers, assisted by the ICHEC team, now have dedicated access to MeluXina, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe.
All ICHEC national service projects will eventually be hosted on MeluXina with a gradual migration of existing projects from Kay through the first half of 2024. ICHEC have been running a series of roadshows with their academic community to orient users to the interim service. In addition, Irish researchers continue to use to a range of other EU supercomputers available to them on a competitive basis, due to Irelands membership of The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU).
Before Kay can be replaced, an independent review of national HPC requirements and a cost-benefit analysis of various options available is required. My Department in consultation with all stakeholders including the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has already initiated this process which is due to conclude later this year. This review is required, in part, due to the unprecedented cost of the new generation of HPC solutions which may require significant additional exchequer commitment and the level of due diligence required to justify such an investment.
