Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have increased funding by €370 million over the past two years and into 2020. That money is in response to the Cassells report. As the Deputy knows, we are sending that report to Europe for an evaluation. It is not just about higher education. We also want an evaluation regarding apprenticeships and to know about future skills needs. All of that will be evaluated and dealt with in the report we are expecting.

We launched a €500 million climate fund and much of that is aligned with what is happening in the higher education institutions. As we speak, much work is taking place in the higher education institutions in the research area. They are using education funding for that.

On organic agriculture, I have met Teagasc on a number of occasions and I am due to meet it in the next fortnight and I will refer back to the Deputy on that.

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