Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy. One of the statistics that bears testimony to what he is saying is that in a very short period, the budget for FET has grown from €5 million to €65 million. This comes from the creation of the Department, which was a commitment in the programme for Government. Let us be realistic, when all of this was part of the remit of the Department of Education, further education was lost, to an extent, particularly in the context of the capital requirements because there were so many other competing demands. Now, with a designated Department, further education is really being prioritised and this allows ETBs in particular to have access to funds that they never in a million years previously thought would be available to them. That should be recognised.

Regarding the Cavan Institute, as the Deputy stated it is being progressed under the FET college of the future project. Cavan and Monaghan ETB is now further refining its proposal to bring a clear focus to meet the infrastructure requirements. Once the business case has been refined and updated, it will be evaluated by SOLAS. I know I stated in my initial reply that a number of these projects are progressing, but they will not progress together based on which one is the slowest. Whichever ones can move at the quickest pace will be the ones that will be advanced. We will not be holding them back.

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