Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to get to a place where the people of Killybegs and the Killybegs campus can be certain not just about their future but about the fact that they are not a peripheral part of a university but instead have a core role. The comments I have received from ATU regarding its view are very encouraging. I am also told that ATU is working with the Donegal local enterprise office and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to look at how we can support the development of Killybegs and south-west Donegal. The Killybegs campus has been in receipt of capital funding of €1.8 million in recent years. I understand, and the Deputy knows better than me, that this has enabled significant building upgrades, some of which I outlined. Crucial to all of this is the ATU strategic plan. It must under the Technological Universities Act put a plan in place for three to five years. It must be provided to me, the HEA and QQI and must be published. ATU is developing its first plan. It met with staff in Killybegs on 21 January and is due to meet the Killybegs campus again on 14 March. I know that the information I have shared with the Deputy is an indication of what ATU's thinking is as it begins to develop this plan but there is an opportunity for people in Killybegs to continue to feed in with 14 March being the next Killybegs campus meeting.

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