Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 30 March 2017

Public Accounts Committee

Dundalk Institute of Technology: Financial Statement 2015

9:00 am

Ms Ann Campbell:

No, the GAA has walked away so that stadium is not planned any more. However, through the facility that we were able to acquire for a fraction of its value in 2013, we have really good sports facilities for our students, which are shared by the local community as well. In terms of sports facilities, we are fine.

Going back to the Deputy's question on facilities in the classrooms, which is an important question, we were not able to make any improvement in those facilities in 2014-15. However, I am very happy to report that we received a devolved grant from the Higher Education Authority in the autumn which we were able to put in full into updating facilities and, in particular, information technology facilities. There are, however, ongoing issues, particularly in relation to the age of the north block, which is the original 1970s building. There are problems with the fabric of that building. That is a major project which is on the capital prioritisation list. At the moment, unless we get Government funding for that, there is no possibility of renewing that block. That would be for us the priority that really needs addressing.