Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That fund was initially targeted at universities, although one institute did get funding. I agree with the Chairman. The institutes do great work, as do the colleges of further education. We have been working very closely with the Department of Education and Skills in rolling out apprenticeship schemes, which are mainly rolled out through local college of further education centres. We are doing more work with the institutes in terms of developing the right skillset and skills mix that is needed for industry. I see a bigger role for them in terms of working with industry to train people and give them the right skills.

The Department of Education and Skills announced an additional investment for the institutes of technology. This included a budget 2018 announcement of €200 million for public-private partnerships in the institute of technology sector and €257 million for investment in the higher education sector, including for research. Budget 2019 saw announcements of €57 million to be invested in higher education initiatives in 2019, along with capital investment of €150 million allocated to the higher education, further education and training and research sectors. I take the Chairman's point.