Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Cummins for his tireless work in delivering a university for the south east and, subsequently, keeping the pressure on night and day to ensure we successfully acquired the Waterford Crystal site for the expansion of one of Ireland's newest and most innovative universities. I am delighted to be back here to discuss where we are at with the acquisition of the former Waterford Crystal site for SETU in Waterford and where we are at with regard to the PPP bundle 2 process.

I will be very clear, as I have been from day one, that part of the vision we have as a Government for the development of SETU - I know Senator Cummins shares this vision - is to expand its footprint in Waterford. We have said that day in, day out. We are not just interested in a name change or anything like that. We want to build a university of scale that serves all of the south-east region. As part of that, we want to see the footprint in Waterford growing with more students, more courses and more modern facilities in Waterford. This is a vision which I am very strongly committed to, together with Senator Cummins, because I believe this expansion will enable SETU to cater for increasing enrolments and to deliver an infrastructure transformation that reflects its university status and the mandate which we as Government have given this new university. Like the Senator, I want to thank Professor Veronica Campbell and her governing authority for the incredible way in which they have hit the ground running with regard to this project.

Earlier this year, as the Senator will be aware, my Department gave approval for SETU to expand its presence in Waterford by agreeing to accept the vendor's final reduced asking price for the 20.3 acre portion of the Waterford Crystal site.SETU has been engaged on the site in due diligence, which is obviously required as part of the pre-contract stage of a site acquisition. Today, I am delighted to inform Senator Cummins and the people of Waterford that this process has now concluded. I gave formal approval today to South East Technological University to proceed and sign the contracts to acquire the Waterford Crystal site. As to what happens next, very practically the next steps will be the signing of the contracts, and I understand that the president of the university is now arranging this with the owners of the site and that it will take place within a fortnight. This is huge, and Senator Cummins knows better than most how important this is beyond education because this is an iconic site that used to be full of people, enterprise and hope. However an economic crash hit our country and it has lain idle for many years. That was the past. Its future is now secure and it is now part of the exciting new university footprint. I genuinely thank Senator Cummins for his tireless work with me on this. I appreciate it has taken a long time and that it has been frustrating at times, but it has certainly been worth the wait. This is a very significant investment in Waterford and in the university.

Regarding the next issue, I again thank Senator Cummins for giving me an opportunity to provide an update on the engineering, computing and general teaching building on the Cork road campus of SETU, which is part of the public-private partnership, PPP, bundle 2 projects. There are 11 projects being progressed through the PPP programme. Bundle 1, which consists of six projects, has now commenced construction, and all projects will be delivered between quarter 4 of next year and quarter 2 of the following year. There are five projects in bundle 2, two of which are for the South East Technological University. We are discussing the one in Waterford today and there is one in Carlow. Those five projects as a bundle are currently at tender stage. I want to say very clearly, in case there is any doubt about this, that the new engineering, computing and teaching building is a high-priority project for me, for Government, for the Department and for the university. The new building in Waterford will have capacity for more than 3,400 students and approximately 160 staff. The bundle 2 procurement process is currently at tender stage. The competitive dialogue remains open. I know it is frustrating when I cannot say more but I have said very clearly that it is a high priority and I join the Senator in wanting to see this brought to a conclusion very quickly.