Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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215. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the 2023 and 2024 Capital Budget allocation to the Higher Education Authority for works projects under the higher education capacity building process; and the amount and percentage of the 2023 Capital Budget allocation that was actually spent. [23243/24]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Higher Education Authority conducted an Expressions of Interest to identify options for substantial expansions across Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine.

There are significant capital costs involved in progressing these options and it is important the scale of the costs is fully understood and planned for. The options identified have the potential to transform the numbers of students who can take up places in these programmes. This would represent a significant investment of public funding in our higher education institutions.

My Department is engaging with other relevant Departments about the capital costs required for the options presented in the HEA EOI report, and I am continuing to work with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Minister for Health and the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform on the next steps.

For smaller works to facilitate immediate expansion in key disciplines, approval was granted to the Higher Education Authority on 31st August 2023 in respect of €5.9m to support the creation of the additional healthcare places.