Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

1241. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the new further education and training college announced on 12 December 2022 in Swords will proceed to a formal planning application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23583/25]

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

1242. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills what has happened in the last 26 months to advance the badly needed further education and training college planned for Swords and provide 1,000 campus places and 6,000 outreach or online places to service the Fingal area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23584/25]

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

1243. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the construction timeline for the new further education and training college planned for Swords; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23585/25]

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

1244. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the budgeted cost of the further education and training college planned for Swords; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23586/25]

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

1245. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the target date to open the planned further education and training college in Swords, Fingal, where the population is increasing, the labour market is at full employment, and there is a need for a training college to upskill persons of all ages in Fingal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23587/25]

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

1246. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills whether funding has been identified and set aside to build the further education and training college planned for Swords as soon as possible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23588/25]

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

1247. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the location of the site in Swords where the planned further education and training college will be constructed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23589/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1241, 1242, 1243, 1244, 1245, 1246 and 1247 together.

Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ETB (DDLETB) are currently being supported by SOLAS in developing their proposal for Swords under the FET College of the Future Major Projects fund.

The proposal put forward by DDLETB is one of twelve projects that are currently being progressed under this fund. The DDLETB proposal is expected to encompass the transformation of FET provision in the area by developing a state-of-the-art further education campus to drive economic growth and social development.

The site preference for this new college is Swords due to its population base and future growth projections. In this respect, officials from my department and SOLAS have been engaging with Local Authority and ETB officials to review site options to progress this matter. SOLAS expects to receive a site evaluation submission from DDLETB shortly.

In parallel to this work, DDLETB are also working on their Preliminary Business Case (PBC) proposal for the infrastructure which will be delivered on the site. The development of a robust PBC is fundamental to the requirements of the Infrastructure Guidelines. Once DDLETB have completed their business case proposal they will submit it to SOLAS for evaluation. Business cases that meet the evaluation criteria will advance to the next stage of development: Pre-Tender – Project Design, Planning, and Procurement Strategy.

SOLAS and officials from my department will continue to support DDLETB in the development of their proposal and I remain committed to ensuring there is appropriate infrastructure in place to meet the needs of FET learners and teaching staff.