Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 22 March 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Future Funding of Higher Education: Discussion (Resumed)

Photo of Paul KehoePaul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I have a couple of questions. Then I will allow members to come back in again. As Mr. Horgan is aware, some of the committee members made a recent visit to MTU back in November. The Government has been very much putting apprenticeships out there by encouraging more people, as is the CAO and everything like that. This is all very welcome. Some of their public statements have been very welcome. I am taken by some of Mr. Horgan’s comments on pressure points and pinch points that MTU are facing. I presume most TUs are in a similar position regarding apprenticeships.

I know money is everything but for a short-term fix, what is needed and required? If the MTU was given €25 million tomorrow morning, that would not fix the problem. It would in the long term but it would not fix the MTU’s problem immediately. Maybe there is a building or construction site that has already been constructed. The MTU could move into it and retrofit it within a short number of months. Could Mr. Horgan outline the key areas where the MTU needs help? Funding is one area. What else does the MTU need and require to get over the crux that it has at that moment?