Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am always delighted to provide Deputy Dillon with an update but I do not have a huge amount of an update since we last met on Monday in Castlebar. That was a good day and we had the clear decision that Castlebar, County Mayo, will be the home of a new further education college of the future, which we call a FET college of the future. What that means to people in Castlebar and Mayo is that this is one of the ten locations throughout the country that will be developed as a major hub of FET. I was pleased to be in Castlebar and I commend Michael Murphy, the principal of Mayo College of Further Education and Training, the CEO of Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board, the director of further education, and all those working so hard in the ETB.

There is great stuff going on in Castlebar in grossly inadequate facilities. That is clear and I saw that when we visited a number of months ago. I thank and congratulate the ETB for putting in a good submission and being chosen as one of the ten FET colleges of the future. This will mean a variety of things. It will effectively mean there will be better and more modern conditions for FET in Castlebar in Mayo and that the Castlebar campus of Mayo College of Further Education and Training can lead on a number of new apprenticeship programmes. Programmes are being developed in the area of cybersecurity, digital media and immersive technologies, and I am looking forward to the ETB, SOLAS and my Department working intensively to take this project forward.

These are massive projects and they are not ones that are delivered quickly. I have been clear about that and I was clear about that in Mayo the other day. However, they are projects that, when in place, will transform the offering for FET. When you look at Castlebar and the fact that you have the university campus, the Atlantic Technological University, ATU, coupled with what will be a state-of-the-art FET college and facility, that will be quite an ecosystem for meeting the skills needs of Castlebar and the north west.

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