Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

May I begin by saying how wonderful it is to see the Ceann Comhairle back in the Chair after his little break? We are all very glad to see him back and we wish him well in the weeks ahead as we approach the busy part of this term.

Science Week is alive and well in County Cavan. It was launched in St. Mogue's College in Bawnboy, which hosted a family fun day last week with many attractions like a mad professor, a marine biologist, blood donors, the Cuilcagh Lakelands Geopark, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Inland Fisheries Ireland and Cavan County Council, which led the way and had its own environment section in attendance along with the fire service and Civil Defence, to name but a few. Other events included climate action workshops, CSI Water presentations and events hosted by Teagasc at the agricultural college campus in Ballyhaise. I went through the programme for the day before coming to the Chamber. There was a terrific outreach programme where schools across Cavan and Monaghan were being worked with collaboratively, with the two counties coming together. I was delighted to see that the Cavan Institute and Monaghan Institute were involved.

I could not let this debate go by without referring to my relentless campaign for Cavan Institute, which I have raised many times in the Chamber. Science Week highlights the need for a new campus for Cavan Institute. I am glad that the Minister has been there a number of times to see our institute, but it has outgrown the structures that were first built in 2006. At the time, it was meant to accommodate approximately 420 students. Today, well over 1,200 students attend Cavan Institute. I hope that the Minister of State will some day get to see with me the lovely greenfield site beside the existing campus. It is screaming out for new state-of-the-art facilities. The Minister has assured me that he will make an announcement on this matter in the new year, but I could not let this debate go by without reminding the Minister of State of the new campus's importance.

The institute's principal, Ms Ann Marie Lacey, and her team of deputy principals and other staff have been relentless in their efforts to provide a large and broad range of science subjects, taking an holistic approach to providing courses for students. The institute provides 70 full-time courses. Currently, staff and students are in unsatisfactory conditions because the institute has to rent premises beyond the campus. These premises are not appropriate and are not fit for the jobs required of them, but the students and staff have to put up with them while we wait for the new building. The new building has been promised for ten years.

For a decade the college has been crying out for these new facilities. I really hope that when the new year comes, the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, and the Minister, Deputy Harris, will be down to turn the sod on the greenfield site in Cavan Institute, which is waiting for it.

As the Minister of State is aware, the college provides very diverse and imaginative courses across a wide range of programmes. It also provides outreach programmes for students in other higher education colleges, supplementing and developing its broad curriculum. Some students use it as a gap year experience and foundation builder before advancing and commencing into third level colleges. The institute's current building is inadequate for the innovative thinking and planning required for future education and training needs in Cavan Institute. Prospective employers, particularly in the trades, would really applaud and welcome an expansion of a further education and training hub at the campus.

I really hope that my relentless calling for this new facility at Cavan Institute will not fall on deaf ears and that the Minister of State will over time ensure that we do get the facilities and investment that are required to deliver the new institute at Cavan.

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