Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Ring, has also been in touch with me in the past day or two. I have a comprehensive reply but if there are aspects I have not covered at the end, I will make a note and get back to the Senator on them. I visited Castlebar and saw the work that needs to be done. I agree that it should be done as quickly as possible.

I reiterate the Government’s commitment to the future sustainability of the Castlebar campus of GMIT. This is the reason the Minister for Education, Deputy Bruton, established the working group in March 2017 to develop a plan that would safeguard the future of the Castlebar campus. I also confirm that the Department and the Higher Education Authority, HEA, are focused on ensuring that the recommendations of the working group are implemented as soon as possible and with appropriate consultation with relevant stakeholders.

The GMIT working group was chaired by the HEA and comprised representatives from GMIT, the Department, Mayo County Council and other local stakeholders. It also comprised representation from the staff and students on the Castlebar campus. The report of the working group was published in December 2017. It provides a wide-ranging assessment of the context within which the campus is currently operating, and outlines a proposed vision for the future of the Mayo campus. It also provides a strategic and comprehensive plan to address the financial and sustainability issues which have been experienced by the GMIT Mayo campus in recent years.

The working group recommendations are primarily for GMIT to implement. However, there are recommendations that relate to the Department. The Department has responded to these as a matter of priority. To this end, the Department has provided ring-fenced funding of €750,000 for the Castlebar campus for each of the next five years while the plan is being implemented. Capital funding is also being provided for the replacement of the roof of the GMIT campus, which is currently in need of repair. The Department and the HEA are working with GMIT to ensure that the other recommendations are being progressed. One of the significant recommendations was the re-establishment of a sub-committee of the governing body of OMIT to oversee the management and development of the Mayo campus. This will give campus issues more focus from a governance perspective but will also facilitate the involvement of regional stakeholders within this structure.The group is scheduled to meet again this month.

Another key recommendation is the appointment of a dedicated permanent head of campus at vice president level. I understand that the appointment process for this role is under way. The appointment of an independent external facilitator to oversee the transition to new structural and operational arrangements is another significant recommendation. The facilitator will play an important role in supporting the implementation of a number of the other working group recommendations. The facilitator will also contribute to rebuilding relationships where this is necessary. In that regard, the Higher Education Authority, HEA, wrote to the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, GMIT, in March, requesting that progress be made on the appointment. The terms of reference for this position are being developed by GMIT in consultation with the HEA. The HEA will continue to monitor progress made by GMIT in implementing all of the working group's recommendations. The HEA will report to the Department in the event that progress is not being made in particular areas.

There has been a significant investment in this process by all relevant stakeholders. It is in everyone's interest that the recommendations in the review are implemented as soon as possible, and in consultation with those stakeholders. I would like to thank Senator Conway-Walsh for affording me the opportunity to respond to the House on this matter.