John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome today's debate. It is a significant day for third level education in the State. It indicates the commitment of this Government and that of the Minister to the development of the sector and, as he has rightly said time and again, the crucial nature it has in terms of the provision of skills. As the Minister, Deputy Lawless, has always said, this portfolio has an economic impact, and today we are seeing that it has a direct economic impact as well as a long-term economic impact. Today, we will indicate that over the coming years, there will be a €600 million capital investment in our third level sector; that is very significant. We have seen some of the projects that are included, particularly in terms of new healthcare and increasing veterinary education capacity and bringing new institutions and disciplines to locations and areas where there would not have been a tradition of providing a third level education previously. Of course, I particularly welcome the new development of the veterinary school in County Galway. I can see that being something that will develop further into the future and, indeed, give young people there an increased opportunity to develop a particular skill and trade that is associated with rural communities. I very much welcome the direct economic impact this will have in terms of where the €600 million will be spent, the employment that will create and the development of skills in those new campuses, which will see future employment brought to the regions.

I would be hopeful that some of that €600 million investment will be for the new college of further education in Galway that the Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board, GRETB, is to develop. It is an exciting project. We are watching it going through the stages of development through the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation guidelines. I ask that today's announcement of €600 million will mean that those projects will move quicker. Some of these educational projects will hopefully benefit from the new accelerating infrastructure task force and that new structure, and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. As I said already and as the Minister rightly said, these have an economic impact. The should be looking at them and trying to move them on as quickly as possible. That new campus in Galway city could be revolutionary for third level education in the city. We are lucky in Galway in that we have two other third level institutions, the University of Galway and Atlantic Technological University, ATU. However, the college of further education and the plans GRETB has for that campus will be a further option and will really complement the other two third level institutions we have in the city at the moment. It is important to note that GRETB does have other similar colleges in regional towns across counties Galway and Roscommon. As a headquarters and a location for new learning, however, this will be very significant.

I also want to compliment Minister's commitment to research and development and, again, we see it here. Part of this funding will go specifically towards that. As a primary school teacher, we always used to say that we have to teach the children for skills that are not yet known and industries that have not yet been developed. Of course, the third level sector is at the cutting face of developing those new industries and giving young people the skills to work in those industries. Research is so important to that. I know the Minister is fully aware of that. I also recognise his work in the budget in increasing the tax credit available to companies in terms of research. It is a very progressive development, and it should be complimented. We see here further funding for research and PhDs. One of the important issues we are hearing from some third level institutions is that they are coming under pressure to try to make sure they strike a suitable balance between the numbers in each class and the opportunity they want to provide for more people to attend. Hopefully, the funding and ongoing current investment the Minister will provide here will help to make sure the universities can continue to offer as broad and wide a spectrum of choice as possible to people in their communities, while at the same time making sure it is manageable for those who work there to administer and manage those courses well.

The great thing about the NTF is the array and vast breadth of educational pathways that it provides, including third level institutions, Springboard, Springboard+, Skillnet, SOLAS and other lifelong learning initiatives. That shows that this portfolio, higher and further education, has and wants to make sure that everybody has a position or a pathway to further their personal development and professional development, and increase the skill net of the community and society in general. This additional investment will go some way towards that.

One thing that I think has been significant is how this is funded. It is social partnership. It is funded by the employers of the country and is an investment in the future of their businesses and their industry. We will see this being fulfilled through the change in legislation today that allows for the increased areas to spend this money. As we all know, a well-resourced further and higher education and training sector is essential not only to develop talent for our economy but also to support local communities, and employers benefit from better local communities. I think we will see more people coming to the third level institutions in the areas where we see increased investment, which will only make our towns and cities better places in the future.

I think I was down for ten minutes, a Cheann Comhairle.

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