Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister is doing the national review of State supports for PhD researchers. As I mentioned before, I was a research contract for a good bit. We need some flexibility here. I agree in that we get a lot of Exchequer and non-Exchequer funding for awards that are for four or five years. We build excellent research teams. These research teams may stay in college, and they may then progress to industry, or they may just be in Ireland for a short period. Flexibility is needed around that and I agree with that point.

On tomorrow's announcement about student accommodation for the technological universities, TUs, that is very welcome and I look forward to hearing about that. I know there are more than 600 units in the city of Galway and that will be incredible. There is the University of Galway. They are working with the local authorities to provide more accommodation. I really appreciate the innovation shown by university presidents, boards and so on to work with local authorities around this. It will relieve the pressure on rental accommodation within the city. All of this will be of benefit. As the Minister said, it is housing for all and it will benefit the city as a whole.

The Minister spoke about the cost of education review. The part-time or lone parent student were mentioned. Along with the questions on resilience, career changing and all of this, I will ask a question about transport. Improved public transport was raised. Does the Minister's Department link in with Iarnród Éireann, Bus Éireann or Local Link? A lot of changes were made by the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I refer to regional areas and TUs and campuses. In Mountbellew, for example, there is a new bus service that goes from Ballinasloe, which is a train station, to Mountbellew and to Castlerea. It is linking our towns. If we are looking at making our campus cities and towns viable and being able to get students there, it is a challenge. If we are looking at veterinary places, how will we get students there? Is there a role for the Minister's Department in terms of how it works with the Department of Transport around this and in feeding into this? At a local level, I am trying to fight hard for a Local Link service. I am sure people will remember there used to be a lot of traffic on the old Dublin to Galway road before we got the motorway. There are a lot of students who would have caught a bus on the old Dublin to Galway road but now the bus does not go that way as it uses the motorway. There are a lot of areas where students may not need accommodation if they can get to and from university.

I also have a huge issue around train services. One cannot get out of Galway to go east on a train or a bus sometimes after 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. One is waiting until midnight or 1 a.m. to get a bus that goes to the airport. How does the Minister see how his Department could input into the Department of Transport? I know it is not his remit or area but when we are building these regional bases and hubs, transport is a real challenge in the areas I am in. I had to deal with school bus transport as well.

My final question is about the National Training Fund, which was raised. Does the Minister have any comments to make on it or any plans? I thank the Minister for his time.