Third Level Education

2 contributions · 2 speakers · 290 words

Q89 SF Mairéad Farrell to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science

89. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he is ensuring that the National Maritime College of Ireland has the required level of funding to continue providing the essential training in green technology and skills; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45697/23]

Summary of this debate

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The National Maritime College of Ireland comprises part of Munster Technological University, which is an autonomous body. The NMCI, through the delivery of courses in areas including marine safety training and marine engineering, plays a crucial role in delivering the green skills required to meet the Government’s ambitious climate targets, particularly the skills required for offshore renewable energy. The college is a key member of the expert advisory group convened by my Department to support the provision of the skills required for offshore wind delivery.

Built by scoring every sentence in the debate on how distinctive its language is, then quoting the highest-scoring ones back word for word and in the order spoken. Nothing is paraphrased or invented — if a sentence appears here, it was said in the chamber. Drawn from 290 words across 2 contributions by 2 speakers.

Most used terms in this debate

How often each word appears across the whole debate, ranked by how distinctive it is to it rather than common to all parliamentary language.

nmci 3

college 4

skills 3

maritime 2

offshore 2

college's 1

technological 2

game 2

marine 2

investment 3

university 2

green 2

The full debate

All 2 contributions, start to finish, in the order they were made.

SF Mairéad Farrell

I was down at the National Maritime College of Ireland, NMCI, which is a fantastic facility. If we are looking to create jobs for the future and the green agenda, the NMCI has so much potential. It is already delivering a great deal but it needs investment. It has always been ahead of the game compared to other colleges around Europe but we must ensure that it has investment. The amount of investment needed is not massive but some increase is necessary to ensure the college can remain ahead of the game.

FG Simon Harris

The National Maritime College of Ireland comprises part of Munster Technological University, which is an autonomous body. The application of funding to specific programmes or for particular purposes provided by the HEA is a matter for the technological university. The Deputy may wish to note that core funding allocated to the higher education sector increased in 2023 and, following last week's budget day announcements, is set to increase further by €60 million in 2024.

The NMCI, through the delivery of courses in areas including marine safety training and marine engineering, plays a crucial role in delivering the green skills required to meet the Government’s ambitious climate targets, particularly the skills required for offshore renewable energy. I join the Deputy in expressing positive and kind words about its work. The college is a key member of the expert advisory group convened by my Department to support the provision of the skills required for offshore wind delivery. Against this backdrop, my Department is not aware of any funding issue that is impacting on the college's ability to continue to provide training in the areas referred to in the Deputy's question but I am happy to discuss the matter with her.