Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I always had a fondness for Clonmel.

South Tipperary County Council purchased circa 300 acres — the Ballingarrane property — for the development of a large-scale technology park. The council has proposed that the TRBDI campus in Clonmel be relocated to the park. To facilitate the transfer, the council is amenable to providing a free site to the institute. The Minister, Deputy Hanafin, understands the institute is agreeable in principle to the council's proposal. The institute believes the relocation cost to include design, construction and fit out of new facilities would be met from the disposal of existing assets. The institute submitted the proposal to the capital review and prioritisation working group, the Kelly report, on future capital needs in the higher education sector. The Kelly report recognised that the proposal has merit on the basis that it would be self-financing.

Before the Department of Education and Science can consent to the proposal, it will need to be satisfied as to the value of the assets available for disposal against the cost of the new facilities, as well as whether the issue of bridging finance arises and, if so, how the institute intends to finance bridging arrangements. The Department has been pursuing a site in the town for a primary school for some time. Discussions have taken place with TRBDI on the possibility of a site for the school being made available at its current location. All of these issues will be discussed further at a meeting that is being arranged with officials of the Department of Education and Science and TRBDI.

The submission by TRBDI to the review group also included several capital proposals concerning other campus developments in both Clonmel and Thurles. However, the review group recommended that the policy framework for the institute should be looked at again before the other proposed investment proposals could be considered. This is interpreted as being a reference to the TRBDI basis structure. The institute is currently considering its capital development proposals in the context of this recommendation. The implications of changes, if any, to the policy framework will need to be assessed carefully before substantial capital investment can be sanctioned for the institute.

I thank the Deputy again for raising this matter on the Adjournment.

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