Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will roll the final three points into one because they have been touched on by other speakers. There was great news for three universities in terms of student-specific accommodation. I know the TU sector has been a little bit further behind, but within the sector Waterford is ahead, in that it has a track record of providing student-specific accommodation. The Minister might just give me an a further update on that. I know he has replied to some of the other members in that regard.

If we are serious about the TU sector, we need to put capital investment in place. The Minister will not be surprised that I am going to ask about the engineering building in Waterford, which has long been promised. Neither will he be surprised if I mention the Waterford Crystal site, which we have acquired. It was absolutely fantastic that we acquired it for the expansion of the SETU footprint in Waterford, but now that we have acquired such a totemic site, we need to build on it.

The Minister also mentioned the decisions that are pending on a veterinary school. He said it depends on capital allocations between his Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The other issue relates to a pharmacy school. A number of people are competing for those pharmacy spaces. I would like an indication of when that process will lay an egg and when a final decision will be made on the pharmacy school.