Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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198. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the third level projects he will fund under the capital investment plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14561/16]

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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240. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the third level projects he will fund under the capital plan 2016 to 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14991/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 198 and 240 together.

The 2016-2021 Capital Plan provides funding of €350m for the Third Level Sector. This consists of a direct Exchequer investment of €150m, including €40m already allocated to the Grangegorman project, and €200m worth of funding for PPP projects.

These are critically important and very welcome investments which will go some way to addressing the capital requirements and, more particularly, the infrastructural deficits that exist in the Sector. They also make a strong statement about the importance of the Sector to our national strategic objectives.

I am conscious that there are many competing demands on the Department's Third Level Capital budget. In that context, the distribution of the funding provided in the Capital Plan is being considered carefully and in consultation with the HEA. A final decision has not yet been made in that respect.