Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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462. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will ensure that the proposed new accommodation for Cavan Institute will be progressed quickly to the next stage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30814/24]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that over the course of 2023, Cavan Monaghan ETB (CMETB) were supported by SOLAS in developing their Preliminary Business Case (PBC) proposal for Cavan town under the FET College of the Future Major Projects fund. The development of a robust PBC is fundamental to the requirements of the Infrastructure Guidelines. The proposal put forward by CMETB is one of twelve projects that are currently being progressed under this fund.

SOLAS and officials from my department recently met with all twelve ETBs including CMETB, to discuss their proposal in the context of relevant regional and national FET policy objectives. CMETB are now working on refining their business case proposal to ensure it will deliver on their priority infrastructure requirements that will meet the needs of their current and future learners and staff.

Business cases that are updated and submitted will be evaluated immediately by SOLAS and my department and those proposals that meet the required evaluation criteria will move to the next stage of development, which is the Pre-Tender – Project Design, Planning and Procurement Strategy stage.

SOLAS and my department will continue to work closely with CMETB in supporting them through this proposal development phase.

I would like to add that my department has also recently provided significant investment in Cavan Institute. The Deputy will be aware that in order to address interim accommodation needs, my Department approved the acquisition and fit out of a substantial modular unit for CMETB, facilitating the opening of the new Education and Training Facility for Cavan Institute at its FET Campus in September 2023. This facility gives 300 students access to a range of PLC programmes and offers state of the art facilities for students and staff and allow for the further growth of Cavan Institute.