Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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6. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 11 of 8 October 2024, the status of the proposed new further education college in Galway city; if the revised business case, as requested, has been evaluated; to provide a breakdown of the €450 million national allocation over four years to four capital funding programmes announced on 14 February 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14544/25]

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I wish the Minister the very best of luck in his new role. I do not know whether Deputy Harkin is taking this question. It relates to Galway and a campus of further education. I was delighted when this announcement was finally made in November 2022. It was announced that there would be an adult campus, a campus of the future. There is a great need for it because so many properties are being rented in Galway. I would appreciate an update on that because I think it is slipping.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware of the Deputy's interest, and indeed the interest of the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, in all items on the west coast, and this development no less.

I know the Deputy is well aware that Galway and Roscommon ETB is being supported by SOLAS in developing its preliminary business case proposal under the FET college of the future major projects fund. The proposal put forward by Galway and Roscommon ETB relates to the development of a new state-of-the-art FET campus on a site adjacent to the Mervue training facility. Due to the close proximity of this training centre to Atlantic Technological University, ATU, and the University of Galway, the new development proposes to strengthen tertiary provision in Galway city and in the wider region. I understand GRETB has submitted its business case proposal to SOLAS for evaluation, which is currently targeted to take place in early April. Following evaluation, business cases that meet the evaluation criteria will advance to the next stage of development: pre-tender - project design, planning and procurement strategy.

The funding envelope referred to by the Deputy relates to part of my Department's overall capital NDP allocation and provides for initial funding for the establishment of four new capital programmes. The FET college of the future major projects fund was established to address existing deficits in FET infrastructure and to support projects that drive reform and facilitate consolidation and integration of further education and training. The strategic infrastructure upgrade fund was established to support smaller scale investments in existing FET infrastructure. The technological sector strategic projects fund was put in place to provide additional capacity to strengthen the role of TUs as drivers of regional development. The higher education strategic infrastructure fund was open to all higher education institutions to co-fund strategic projects to a maximum of 50% to deliver high-quality infrastructure for higher education institutions. Those capital investment programmes have supported an ambitious transformation agenda across both sectors and will help ensure that our campuses are flexible and future-proofed to meet the needs of our learners and teaching staff.

As regards the allocation of the overall funding, the overall approach the Deputy has asked me about, I know it is kind of a multi-part question but, as regards the big line items, I hope my reply gives some information.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Minister for the background. I have the background and I welcome that. My concern is that there is slippage as regards this project. The ETB in Galway is the second biggest in the country. It is unique in that it covers the Gaeltacht area and the islands. It has 19 post-primary schools and two community national schools and a huge amount of buildings rented at an enormous cost in an unsustainable manner for adult education. We were therefore delighted when this was announced. A preliminary business case was submitted and the ETB did everything right in January 2024. Then it was told to come back again. It was told to reduce its 25,000 sq. m to 10,000 sq. m, inexplicably. Then it was asked to reduce it further and it stood up and said, "No. Our vision was for 25,000 sq. m and now you are making us do it at 10,000 sq. m." Now I am not sure where we are in that regard. I ask the Minister to give some clarity as to when this will be delivered and the reason for the reduction.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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For the record, as regards Galway and Roscommon ETB, I think €1.03 million in funding just in the current year is already earmarked, even aside from this project. I am aware, however, that there was a request for the square footage to be reduced. I think there was an application for 25,000 sq. m. The college was invited to submit a revised business case. There was a meeting with SOLAS and Department officials with all 12 ETBs included in this package, including Galway and Roscommon ETB, in April and May 2024 and each ETB gave a presentation on its proposals. Following those meetings, each ETB, including Galway and Roscommon ETB, was provided with feedback on affordability, value for money and relevant regional and national FET policy objectives. Based on that, all ETBs were asked to refine their business case proposals to ensure they delivered on priority infrastructure requirements within available funding parameters. ETBs were invited to submit their proposals to SOLAS for evaluation. GRETB recently submitted its business case proposal, and that is the evaluation scheduled for the first week in April, so we are not too far off a milestone. The Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, is following this with great interest as well. That is where it is at, so it is effectively next week or next fortnight.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I welcome that there is a date, but there is the history and the fact that the ETB was asked to revise downwards twice its plan and its vision. We attend regularly meetings on updates with GRETB. I keep calling it the old VEC. In any event, there is cross-party support for this. It looks like the ETB is being forced to accept the 10,000 sq. m, even though it was asked to reduce it even more. There will be a phase 2 sometime in the future. That was never anticipated. It was anticipated it would be all one project. And what is going into phase 2? Apprenticeships, the Irish language and the potential there to upskill people in the public sector because of the Official Languages Act and other legislation and because Galway is a bilingual city and because the Gaeltacht comes under the remit of what I call the VEC. For the life of me, I cannot understand what analysis was done as regards the request - the order, really - to reduce. April is the deadline for a "Yes" or "No" to the business case, is that it, and then the other steps come in?

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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It would be unhelpful for me to comment on the particular facility in terms of the details of it because I am not informed on it. It would be unfair to the project. However, I take the Deputy's point that phase 2 will now follow and will undoubtedly provide important services. I think her suggestion is that it would be better to do the whole thing at once, if I understand her correctly. That is a natural, intuitive argument to make. I have seen elsewhere that sometimes projects can be overly ambitious - I am not making any comment on this particular project but am speaking in a general sense - and have had a large scope and a large vision but ultimately have failed to get off the ground or failed to get to where they need to be. Sometimes it is better to take it in chunks and in stages and to meet funding with ambition at a moment in time, address the immediate needs and then look to build on that. There are horses for courses, and different courses can be taken in different projects. SOLAS is engaging intensively with GRETB and, as I said, that process should progress next month.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I will take a supplementary question from Deputy McGuinness.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Deputy Connolly mentioned slippage, and it is something we must all guard against. I wish both the Minister and the Minister of State well in their briefs in the time ahead and I look forward to a constructive working relationship. I ask the Minister for an update on both the veterinary and the pharmacy courses at South East Technological University.

These are crucially important. They were announced last year to great fanfare and after much anticipation. Are we still on course for those courses to begin in September 2025? As other speakers have said about other parts of the country, the agricultural and equine sectors are very big in Waterford and the wider south-east region. We need that veterinary capacity in our new university. There is also a burgeoning pharmaceutical sector operating in Waterford city and county, including in my own town of Dungarvan, and in the wider region, including Kilkenny and Wexford. We need to know that this pharmacy course will be available in September 2025. I would be grateful for an acknowledgement or update from the Minister regarding both of those.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is being a little bit elastic in his supplementary question. A question on Galway and Roscommon ETB has morphed to include pharmaceutical course provision at the Waterford campus of SETU. I will run with it, however.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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We are on the theme of slippage.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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We are also on the theme of constructive collaboration. I do not know if the Deputy was in the Chamber for my interaction with Deputy Fitzmaurice but I fully agree with both Deputies. I am very keen to see these courses proceed. The provision on high-end professional qualifications in areas such as veterinary science and pharmaceuticals will be a hallmark of the technological universities. I am a big supporter of both.

On the point regarding agriculture, I have visited both colleges. Since being appointed, I have been visiting as many as possible of the higher education institutions, stakeholders and facilities that are under my remit. I have visited both colleges and spoken to both management teams. The points the Deputy and Deputy Fitzmaurice have raised have very much been on the agenda. There has been slippage. The institutions have put their hands up and said that, because these are complex courses, a regulatory approval process must be undertaken and laboratory equipment and specialist facilities are required. It is not as easy as flicking a switch to turn it on, despite their best efforts. I will have to come back to the Deputy on the position regarding the pharmaceutical course but the working date for the veterinary course is September 2026. I will come back to the Deputy on the pharmaceutical course.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I congratulate Deputy McGuinness on his creativity.