Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Smith for the question. The national development plan commits to a step up in investment in further education and training infrastructure. As the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, outlined, under plans being developed by my Department it is projected that expenditure will increase from less than €20 million in capital funding for further education and training in 2020 to approximately €100 million per year by 2025. That will give the Deputy a sense of the stepped increase.

There are more than 35 projects in the pipeline for delivery in 2022, at various stages of the project lifecycle. They are classified in two main areas, namely, capital projects and emergency health and safety works. The project range includes refurbishment and renovation works, civil works, addressing serious access issues, roof repairs, mechanical and electrical projects, with a focus on safety issues and emergency replacements.

An apprenticeship specific capital grant scheme was, I am pleased to say, introduced for 2021-2022. It has provided €10 million for further education and training and €10 million for higher education, and is jointly administered by SOLAS and the HEA. I am pleased to advise the Deputy that in the coming days I will announce a new and significantly more ambitious phase of capital investment in the further education and training sector. I should be clear; it will be an invitation for projects to come forward. It will provide ETBs with a framework to put forward projects in 2022 to upgrade and enhance the further education and training strategy and advance the priorities of the future further education and training strategy.

I am particularly excited about capital investment, which will be a key enabler of what we call the further education and training college of the future, which the Deputy will have heard me talk about when I visited Cavan Institute. Deputies should expect significant news in respect of a stepped increase in capital investment from the Government for further education and training. From a process point of view, it will be for the ETBs and institutes to come forward.

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