Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a clear commitment in A Programme for a Partnership Government to equality of access to higher education in terms of supporting an increase in the number of flexible courses and opportunities available. Last week the Castlebar campus of GMIT announced the cutting of four courses at the campus, which clearly represents a loss of opportunity and access to those particular courses. The courses relate to IT, business and heritage. The announcement came at the end of many months of rumours of financial difficulty at GMIT across its four campuses. My question to the Minister is how he plans to address the funding crisis currently being experienced in third level, especially in institutes of technology. The people of Mayo are extremely concerned at the apparent downgrading of the Castlebar campus.

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