Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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5. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the timeline for the single-phase delivery of the new campus for Dunboyne College of Further Education and Training, Dunboyne, County Meath, to be funded from as many relevant streams as possible, including but not limited to SOLAS, sports capital and national training funding. [26525/25]

Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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I wish to ask both the Minister and the Minister of State the timeline for the single-phase delivery of the new campus for Dunboyne College of Further Education and Training, Dunboyne, County Meath, to be funded from as many relevant streams as possible, including but not limited to SOLAS, sports capital funding, national training funding and national development plan funding. This college began with 50 students and two courses and it currently has 1,300 students, 70 courses and 45 apprenticeships.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy for her question. I am pleased to say this is my first opportunity to respond to an oral question. I am also pleased that it relates to Dunboyne College, which I know. I am familiar with the great work that is happening there.

Louth Meath ETB, LMETB, is being supported by SOLAS in developing its preliminary business case, PBC, proposal for Dunboyne under the FET college of the future major projects fund and they have met as recently as this month to progress the application. The proposal put forward by LMETB relates to the development of a new fit-for-purpose facility on a greenfield site in Dunboyne to replace the existing rented accommodation in Dunboyne. It is one of 12 projects being progressed under this fund.

LMETB is refining its business case proposal and once completed, it will submit it to SOLAS for evaluation. The evaluation panel will be available to meet as soon as the updated business case is received. Business cases that meet the evaluation criteria will advance to the next stage of development: pre-tender, project design, planning, and procurement strategy. The development of a robust PBC is fundamental to the requirements of the infrastructure guidelines. The appropriateness or otherwise of a phased development of the proposal, which the Deputy inquired about, is a matter for the evaluation panel to determine.

Funding for all projects under this programme, including the proposal from LMETB for Dunboyne, will come from within the FET college of the future major projects fund envelope. The Department and I are committed to delivering this project as part of 12 key projects that were announced under the FET college of the future major projects fund.

Deputy Gillian Toole: I thank the Minister of State for her updated information. I reiterate that this college is delivering. At various times in this Chamber we have discussed the need for occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and the development of apprenticeship programmes and construction studies. LMETB colleges can deliver that. This process began in 2015 when Dunboyne was added to the building list of the then Department of Education and Skills. Currently, the rent roll is just short of €100 million a year to 23 landlords. That includes transportation costs. Such costs are unsustainable. Currently, the college is operating from an industrial estate where numerous health and safety issues arise. It is an absolute waste of money. I plead for the single-phase case, because since this process began in 2015 there has been a lot of to'ing and fro'ing with the Department. There has been significant engagement, including by staff members whose core function is the education of the students whom they highly value.

Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for the updated information. I reiterate that this college is delivering. At various times in this Chamber, we have discussed the need for occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and the development of apprenticeship programmes, as well as construction studies. LMETB colleges can deliver that. This process began in 2015, when Dunboyne was added to the building list of the then Department of Education and Skills. Currently, the rent roll is just short of €100 million a year to 23 landlords. That includes transportation costs. It is unsustainable. The college is operating from an industrial estate where numerous health and safety issues arise. It is an absolute waste of money. I plead for the single-phase case because this process began in 2015 and there has been a lot of toing and froing with the Department. There has been significant engagement, including by staff members whose core function is the education of the students, whom they highly value.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I will begin with a comment. The Deputy spoke about a one-stage process. Whether it is a phased development or a one-stage development is a matter for the evaluation panel. The proposal is to develop fit-for-purpose accommodation on a greenfield site in Dunboyne. As the Deputy said, the college is currently located in poor accommodation in a large number of rental premises in an industrial estate. LMETB submitted its preliminary business case for evaluation in September 2024 and that needed to be refined. It submitted it again in March of this year and further refinement was needed. SOLAS is working with LMETB. Everybody wants to see a successful application from Dunboyne because, in truth, we want to get on with building this new facility.

Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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We are absolutely united in the spirit of getting this project progressed. Again, I would push the case in this instance based on the financial implications and the history of the project. There is no doubt of the intention in the programme for Government, where the intention is to communicate, collaborate and encourage more interdepartmental and intradepartmental collaboration. That is why I make the suggestion for alternative funding streams so it is not just limited to the FET fund.

On 24 February 2022, the Minister's predecessor and now Tánaiste, Deputy Harris, gave a commitment on record and on film, stating that he was delighted to confirm there is ring-fenced funding in place for the delivery of a purpose-built college for Dunboyne College. I am just asking for the honouring of the single-phase delivery of the project.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I hear what the Deputy is saying and I know that what she is talking about is a ring-fenced, purpose-built building. I know the envelope that is available is available to all of the 12 different colleges that are looking for this funding. All have been approved and they just have to get through this preliminary stage. I know Dunboyne is working very hard with LMETB. Without being certain about this, I would be confident that, within the next short period of time, we will get to a point where its application can be successful and progress to the next part of the process. Eight out of the 12 original applicants have got to this point and I have no doubt Dunboyne will get there soon. It is a big piece of work and very important for the region. Like the Deputy, I recognise the really good work that is carried out by the college. I and my Department stand ready to support it.