Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Wynne for this question. I look forward to visiting County Clare shortly. I hope to do so in the next month. Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, LCETB, provides a broad range of further education and training options at levels 1 to 6, including literacy, community education, post-leaving certificate courses, Youthreach, training for the employed and the unemployed, and apprenticeships. Further education and training provision in County Clare, as across the country, is supported through a range of funding pots, including the national recovery and resilience plan, the action plan for apprenticeships, the adult literacy for life strategy and the Future FET: Transforming Learning strategy. I am pleased to say that this investment has supported the enhancement of the further education and training college at the Ennis campus, which I was delighted to visit in the last year or so. It has enabled us to grow the number of traineeships and apprenticeships in hairdressing and electrical on the campus. Additionally, my Department and I are committed to capital investments that will modernise and upgrade further education and training infrastructure across County Clare. All 16 education and training boards, including LCETB, have in place a strategic performance agreement with SOLAS from now to 2024. This sets out what they wish to achieve over the course of that period.

In respect of higher education, Ennis is now a university town because the Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest, TUS, has a campus in Ennis serving County Clare. Previously, County Clare lacked a university presence of its own and was traditionally served by higher education institutions such as the University of Limerick, Mary Immaculate College and the University of Galway. However, with the creation of TUS on 1 October 2021, that has changed. The TUS Ennis campus offers two courses in social care work, with around 50 students enrolled.

I know that LCETB is working on several applications for upgrading existing facilities across County Clare, including in Scarriff and elsewhere. There is potential to do more at the TUS campus in Ennis. I look forward to having an opportunity to visit it in the coming weeks and to discuss this matter further with the Deputy.

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