Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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460. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when he will allocate capital funding for the new Wexford campus of SETU; the discussions he has had to date with the university in relation to its capital requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30748/24]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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Over the last number of years, SETU have been working closely with Wexford County Council (WCC) to help identify an appropriate site for a permanent home for their Wexford Campus. As part of this engagement, a preferred site was identified. Following a lengthy negotiation process between WCC and the owner of this site, an agreement could not be reached on a price.

WCC have since progressed the acquisition of this site, totalling 48.5 acres by way of compulsory purchase order (CPO). The intention is that a proportion of this site will be used to facilitate a new Wexford Campus for SETU with the reminder of the site being developed by WCC.

The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science announced on the 9th November 2023 that the acquisition of the Wexford Town site had progressed significantly with Wexford County Council having successfully moved to the final stages of the CPO process with the “Notice to Treat” being served. The issuing of this notice is a significant milestone as it obligates the Local Authority to acquire the property and obliges the owner to surrender same.

WCC are now working with SETU on developing a masterplan for the overall site and in parallel to this SETU are engaging with the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to develop a Business Case for the development of the infrastructure for the proposed site.

This project will be progressed under the Technological Sector Strategic Projects Fund (TSSPF) framework and once the business case is submitted and approved, it will feed into the overall masterplan currently being prepared by WCC for the subject lands. SETUs preliminary business case for the infrastructure required on the site is expected to be submitted to the HEA shortly.