Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing this Topical Issue.

The school of tourism of Letterkenny Institute of Technology, LYIT, is currently located in Killybegs, in what was formerly the Cert training college. The college has been providing high quality training in the catering and hospitality industry for over 40 years and many students have won international awards over the years for the standard of their expertise in the cookery field. In recent years, the Cert school amalgamated with LYIT and this it was understood would secure the future of the college and ensure growth into the future. Unfortunately this has not come to pass.

Currently, there are approximately 180 students at the Killybegs campus. The college not only provides for school leavers through the CAO system, but also has a large cohort of part-time adult learners who are reskilling themselves and hope to participate in the tourism sector. The campus in Killybegs also provides training in the renewable energy sector, with the first training tower of its kind in the country located on site. This provides training for maintenance personnel in the wind energy sector. A number of companies have also looked at the college with a view to using the facilities as a training location.

Killybegs is the largest fishing port in the country and is also involved in the oil and gas exploration sector and in the importation of wind turbines for the renewables industry. The high level group report on job creation in Killybegs, launched by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in Killybegs in June 2011, envisages a vital role for the tourism college in the future development of the town and surrounding area. A number of key actions in the report will help the development of the whole of the south west of Donegal if brought to fruition, such as the development of a seafood innovation hub, the development and consolidation of the LYIT school of tourism as a key resource for the region and the establishment of Killybegs as a centre of excellence for the green economy.

At the moment, the LYIT board is drafting a five-year financial plan for the institute and I believe it is considering relocating the school of tourism to the Letterkenny campus. This will seriously undermine the viability of the Killybegs campus of LYIT. There is a serious urgency with regard to this situation, because the plan is due to be delivered to the Higher Education Authority before the summer. This could signal the end of the delivery of tourism courses in Killybegs. While everyone understands there is a need for education and training to be cost effective, closing the Killybegs campus will be a severe setback for the whole of south-west Donegal with the withdrawal of a vital education resource. It will also make the continuation of the adult learner facilities in Killybegs unviable and remove a resource for many under skilled and unemployed workers to improve their educational attainment and contribute to the growth of a viable tourism sector, which because of Government policy is one of the only options available in Donegal for job growth.

The school of tourism is the lynchpin that is keeping the rest of the facilities at the Killybegs campus going and if it is removed it will reduce the viability of the entire campus.

LYIT might have financial difficulties - recovering student debt is probably one of its biggest problems - but the removal of the school of tourism from Killybegs will ultimately not solve them. It would hamper the recovery and development of a large part of County Donegal. It would bring an end to a significant tradition that has been in the hospitality and tourism industry for many years. Surely LYIT has a role in delivering and participating in the development of the entire region. The Killybegs campus should be seen as having a role as part of that remit. It should be supported so that it can develop the tourism, food and renewable energy sectors for the future of everyone in the north west. I call on the Minister of State to ensure the Killybegs campus continues to play a full part in that effort.

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