Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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18. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update on the dentistry school for Cork, for which the ground was broken, but has yet to be delivered. [9109/24]

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister provide an update on the dentistry school for Cork on which ground was broken but which has not yet been delivered?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Farrell very much for the question. As she will know, universities, including University College Cork, are autonomous bodies established under statute. All universities are required to comply with the relevant Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform guidelines, including, as appropriate, the public spending code and relevant circulars. As autonomous bodies, the expenditure of a university’s income, both public and private, is a matter for the individual institution and this includes responsibility for ensuring appropriate policies and procedures are in place to oversee the use of its resources. As the accountable person for the institution, the president of a university is accountable to the Oireachtas in respect of the expenditure of Exchequer funding and universities' financial statements are audited independently by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

As an autonomous body, it is a matter for UCC to prioritise its capital projects accordingly. There have been two rounds of capital funding made available to higher level institutions under the higher education strategic investment fund, HESIF, in recent years. Each institute was asked to submit one project per funding round under HESIF. UCC chose to lodge applications for its business school and for an upgrade to the Kane Building. I am pleased to say both applications have been successful and have received €50 million in direct Exchequer funding from this Department. That is where we are on that.

In addition and separately, the Higher Education Authority recently undertook an expressions of interest, EOI, process to identify options for developing substantial medium-term additional capacity in a range of priority healthcare disciplines, including dentistry. In June 2023 the Minister for Health and I announced details of the potential options identified under this process. I continue to engage closely on this matter with Government colleagues to advance the process, with investment to be considered in the context of the ongoing capital review of our national development plan allocations.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Am I correct in thinking that the Minister was there for the breaking of the ground?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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No.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Okay, I will have to look back in that regard. Back in 2019, UCC was granted planning permission for a five-storey building in Curraheen but this did not progress. A fortnight ago, the Irish Examiner reported UCC has now "dropped plans for Cork University Dental School and Hospital to move to a bigger site, despite its dean warning that the current building is “untenable” without significant investment". As the dean is reported as pointing out, the current building is "a frail, old building. It’s got a leaking roof and other issues as would be expected of a building that age".

I fully understand what the Minister is saying as regards universities being autonomous bodies. Is he concerned about the number of dentists we are producing more generally? Will he comment on the need for infrastructure to fill that gap?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I genuinely do not think I was there. I am open to correction if I was but I do not have a recollection of it. There are two separate issues here. Like all universities, UCC had to prioritise the projects it wanted to submit under the HESIF. It put forward two: the business school and the Kane Building. It got the allocation for both and those projects moved forward.

The broader question the Deputy asked is very valid. Yes, I do have a concern that we are not training enough dentists in Ireland. It is not just that I have a concern; it is also a concern of the Department of Health and the HSE. As the Deputy will know, we undertook an expression of interest process with the Higher Education Authority. We asked universities to let us know what they could do in a range of priority healthcare disciplines and, coincidentally, in veterinary medicine. Dentistry was one of the areas in which options came back. I am happy to share details with the Deputy in a note but a number of options for dentistry came back as part of that expression of interest process. I believe there were three options: one for a new programme and two for the expansion of existing programmes. Along with the general expansion of both healthcare and veterinary medicine, the Ministers for Health, agriculture and I are pursuing these positions along with the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform as part of the review of capital ceilings currently under way.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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There are a few things here. Another piece in the Irish Examiner reads:

The IDA said this school is “instrumental” in providing care to thousands of patients and training students.

“We urge the Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris, the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, and all relevant Government departments to acknowledge that the UCC Dental School can no longer reside in an aging building with outdated equipment and allocate adequate funding to allow for the original plans to proceed,”...

It was also said that "even students who earn the maximum of 625 points may not get a place." There is obviously a serious issue if that is the case in respect of those getting 625 points. Will the Minister respond to that? Has a graduate entry course ever been considered? What are the Minister's views on that?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank both Deputies. On the expression of interest process, Deputy Farrell's question was interesting because I asked about graduate entry programmes and was told that none were proposed as part of the expression of interest round. There were three options identified under the Higher Education Authority expression of interest process. One was for a new programme and two were for the expansion of existing programmes. One of those three options came from UCC. We will now see how best to take these forward. However, I do share the view that we need more dentistry places and that more dentistry places would reduce the points required, which would be fairer for students and good for the delivery of healthcare.

On Deputy Stanton's specific questions, I do not have the figures on estimated costs in front of me but I will seek that information. I absolutely believe that we need to invest more in UCC and in its capital projects. So far, I have been delighted to be in a position to approve both the business school and the Kane Building. I have also been very grateful to UCC for putting forward a number of options for how it can play a bigger role in respect of healthcare and dentistry. These options will be considered by myself, the Minister for Health and the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, as part of the capital review process that is under way.