Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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853. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when he will publish the sectoral decarbonisation strategy. [27286/25]

Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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854. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to report on his Department’s work in the development of a decarbonisation capital investment programme. [27287/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 853 and 854 together.

Decarbonisation is a fundamental objective in all public sector capital investment programmes. All capital expenditure proposals take climate impact into account prior to progression.

The following measures are already being implemented to ensure that we meet the climate targets for the tertiary sector:

• The Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation Pathfinder Programme (EEDPP) in Higher Education, first introduced in 2020 and co-funded by my Department and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) administered through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and Higher Education Authority (HEA), has seen funding of €100m being ringfenced for a range of suitable projects. The EEDPP continues to test a range of building retrofit approaches to build evidence and capability in the sector, and to inform decisions as larger scale programmes are rolled out in the future.
• In addition, in January 2025 an Energy Efficiency & Decarbonisation Pathfinder programme (EEDPP) was announced for the Further Education & Training sector. Similar to the HE Pathfinder it will be co-funded by DFHERIS and DECC and administered through the SEAI and SOLAS with a total co-funded budget of €60m.
• As part of Budget 2025, Government agreed a total National Training Fund (NTF) funding package of €1.485bn over a six-year period (2025-2030) for the tertiary sector; to include a €600m capital programme, of which €150m is intended to upgrade and decarbonise the tertiary estate.
• The further and higher education sectors may also use Devolved Grant funding, including the new Green Devolved Grant funding stream for the FET sector with an annual fund of €8m for three years, to directly invest in works to support energy efficiency and emissions reductions initiatives for their buildings.

Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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855. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to report on his Department’s work in the development of a new capital investment framework; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27288/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is currently in the process of developing an internal Capital Investment Framework to support its structured approach to long-term capital investment. This work is ongoing with a draft version expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2025.

This framework is not for publication; it is an internal document for the purpose of ensuring effective management of capital investment, alignment with strategic objectives and value for money. It is intended to support existing internal processes and assist with the decision-making process. It is expected that the Capital Investment Framework will be a fluid document that will be responsive, iterative and will evolve over time.

Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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856. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way in which his officials within his Department are working to address the implications of section 64 governance reports on capital projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27289/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Universities are autonomous institutions within the meaning of the Universities Act 1997. Under the terms of this Act, the governance and performance of these institutions are matters for which the Governing Bodies and the management of the relevant institutions are responsible. Presidents of Universities, as the Accountable Person for the institutions, are accountable to the Oireachtas for the expenditure of exchequer funding. Universities are required to comply with all relevant Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan, Delivery and Reform guidelines including as appropriate, the Public Spending Code, Infrastructure Guidelines, Codes of Governance and Government circulars, in respect of capital investment.

Under the agreements with Universities, any breach of the above much be reported to the HEA. The HEA Act 2022 introduced revised legislative regulatory powers for the HEA to oversee an autonomous higher education and research system, and to intervene where remedial action is necessary or required. Interventions might include where a situation or issue arises in terms of Governance, Financial management or other matters, allowing the HEA to hold the Institution and its Governing Authority accountable.

Under Section 64 of the HEA Act 2022, the CEO of the HEA may, if there are significant concerns about governance, performance of functions or compliance by a designated institution with its obligations, request the governing body of a designated institution to undertake a review.

The HEA may determine if capital spending is to be paused including a pause on all HEA capital funding allocations to a University pending the outcome of said S64 review.

The capital pause will remain in place for as long as is deemed necessary during the section 64 process. However, it is open to the institutions to put forward an application for a derogation as required which is then reviewed on a case by case basis by the HEA. The pause does not affect maintenance work on the institutions' current estate.

Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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857. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the name and stage of each project under the Technological Sector Projects Fund; and to list the Exchequer funding provided for each project, in tabular form. [27290/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The Technological Sector Strategic Projects Fund (TSSPF) was launched in February 2022 to support additional capacity and infrastructure improvements in the technological university sector. During December 2023 and January 2024, my department progressed four projects to the next stage of development which is the Pre-Tender – Project Design, Planning and Procurement Strategy stage. These projects are located in ATU Galway, DkIT, MTU Cork, and MTU Kerry.

There are also a number of other projects that the HEA is collaborating with the Technological Universities to develop preliminary business cases under the TSSPF. These projects are located in SETU (Waterford Crystal site), SETU Wexford campus, ATU Sligo (St. Angela’s incorporation), the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), TU Dublin and TUS Thurles.

As with all Capital infrastructure projects that are in development, I am not in a position to provide details on individual project budgets, as in doing so may affect future tender processes.

The table below outlines the current stage of each project in line with the Infrastructure Guidelines:

• Stage 1: Strategic Assessment & Preliminary Business Case.
• Stage 2: Pre-tender - Project Design, Planning and Procurement Strategy.

Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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858. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to report on the work of officials within his Department to acquire sites in FE and HE areas to facilitate capital project investment; and to report on the maximum number of sites the Department is currently considering acquiring. [27291/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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There are a number of site acquisitions required to support the progression of projects under the Technological Sector Strategic Projects Fund and the College of the Future Major Projects Fund programmes, once their preliminary business cases meet the robust requirements of the Infrastructure Guidelines.

Work is ongoing on a number of potential sites which include a new South East Technological University (SETU) Campus in Wexford and new FET College of the Future sites for Dunboyne, Castlebar, Killarney and Swords.

Wexford County Council (WCC) have been progressing the acquisition of the site in Wexford town by way of compulsory purchase order (CPO) where 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.

Officials from my department and SOLAS have also been working closely with Local Authority and ETB officials to progress the FET College of the Future sites, this work remains ongoing.