Malcolm Noonan (Green Party)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Higgins.

Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming in for this very important Commencement matter. This is about requesting an update from the Department about the South East Technological University Wexford campus. Regrettably, Wexford has the lowest number of people with a third level education degree. We are at about 37% as of census 2022, while the national average is 46%. This shows just how important the Wexford SETU campus will be. I am aware of the CPO being completed. I am aware of the detailed design, and the layout for the campus is under way. I am here to request a very important update on where this project is at and what we can do to work together to move it on. This is a unique campus. It will be the first campus in Ireland which will co-educate from primary school education to secondary school education, apprenticeships and then on to university status, all co-located on the one site. This is a unique, flagship campus but we have to move it on. The people of Wexford have been waiting too long for their own designated third level campus. There is fantastic work going on in St. Peter's College and the campus it has there, but the reality is that it is just not suitable for the scale of ambition people have for third level education in Wexford.

I would be very grateful to get an update from the Minister of State. I visited the site with the Minister, Deputy James Lawless, on 5 December, when he came to Wexford. We are now several months on and we just want a clear update on where we are at.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Cathal Byrne for raising this important matter on behalf of his fellow constituents in Wexford and for requesting an update on the proposed new campus for South East Technological University in Wexford.

The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Lawless, as the Senator noted, has previously acknowledged that the SETU campus infrastructure in Wexford is not suitable and that there is a need for a campus that will meet the needs of learners and teaching staff. On the recent visit to the SETU campus to which the Senator referred, where the Minister was welcomed, he announced that he had instructed SETU and Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board to work together to develop a new, innovative proposal which will deliver a new tertiary campus in Wexford town.

As the Senator said, this is an exciting educational opportunity. It will be transformative for learners in Wexford and marks an important step in a collaborative journey for SETU and Waterford and Wexford ETB. This tertiary campus will support learners to reach their full potential by creating pathways and removing barriers to access. It will give learners of all ages, as the Senator said when he spoke about a co-located facility, a place where they can progress, upskill, reskill and innovate without having to leave County Wexford.

I understand that a number of engagements have taken place between SETU and Waterford and Wexford ETB and work is ongoing on developing a business case proposal, which is expected to be submitted to the Higher Education Authority later this year for evaluation.

This project is being progressed under the Department's technological sector strategic projects programme. If the preliminary business case is successfully evaluated, it will then move on to the next stage of the process, which is pre-tender - project design, planning and procurement strategy stage. This is a key stage of development, where the proposal will be further refined, the design will be further advanced, and the procurement strategy and project execution plan will be developed.

I acknowledge the work done by Wexford County Council over recent years to identify an appropriate site for a permanent home for this fantastic Wexford campus. As part of this engagement, a preferred site was identified. Following a lengthy negotiation process between Wexford County Council and the vendor, agreement could not be reached on price.

Wexford County Council is now progressing the acquisition of a site totalling 48.5 acres by way of compulsory purchase order. The intention is that a proportion of this site will be used to facilitate a new Wexford campus for SETU and the remainder of the site will then be developed by Wexford County Council. Work on the CPO process remains ongoing by the council.

Funding requirements for the proposal will be informed by the relevant evaluation processes and funding availability in the context of the Department's overall capital budget. Specific funding has been set aside within the Department's budget towards the cost of the site.

The Minister has always been fully supportive of the need to expand the tertiary education footprint in the south east and the need for the stakeholders - SETU, Waterford and Wexford ETB and the local authority - to continue to work collaboratively to advance this ambition.

The Senator stated that this will be a flagship campus and he would like us to work together. To reiterate, the Minister is very happy to work with him and other stakeholders in the area, whether that is SETU, the ETB or the local authority, to ensure this project can develop as quickly as possible. I thank the Senator for his efforts in leading this drive.

Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her response. The reason I am so passionate about this project is that I have seen so many people my age and older who did not have the opportunity to go to third level in their own county but went to Dublin, Waterford or Cork and, unfortunately, did not come back.There is a real opportunity here to stop the brain drain from County Wexford into other areas and use this campus to drive jobs, economic growth and economic opportunity in our county. I thank the Minister of State for the update. I will work with her, the Minister and the Department to ensure that this project continues to be driven forward. If necessary, I will raise it again to ensure it is kept at the top of the agenda.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for being such a passionate advocate for this. It is really important that our politicians are champions of key local issues. This is a key local issue for his area, not only for the people he represents in Wexford but also for the region as a whole. I fully accept the Senator's point in relation to the census figures he cited earlier. According to the 2022 census, 37% of people in Wexford have third level degrees, which is substantially below the 46% average across Ireland. The second point the Senator made, which is particularly interesting, was that many of those people then go on to live in Dublin or somewhere else. It is important that we are investing in our educational facilities in areas like Wexford. It is also important that we continue to invest in job creation and in job-growing innovations locally.

The tertiary education campus is just one component of an overall master plan for the area, which will include a range of other different uses, namely, housing, schools, sports facilities and transport links. Wexford County Council will lead out on the development of this overall master plan for the area. It is these kinds of innovative, visionary projects that we need to back, both financially and from a resource perspective, to ensure that we can deliver the balanced geographical growth we want in this country. I thank the Senator for championing this project, which the Minister supports.