Third Level Education
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-29
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James Lawless (FF), Kildare North

To reflect on the educational opportunities in Donegal, the Deputy's constituency, and I know he is a proud Donegal man, the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, and Deputy Gallagher have also made representations to me on many of these matters. I launched the veterinary school in ATU Letterkenny recently. It is great. There will be 40 vet places in the north west, primarily for large animal practice. This was badly needed because students had to go to either the UK or Dublin and many also travelled to Poland previously. Some did not come home so this is important.
I also visited the ETB in Killybegs with Deputy Gallagher and saw some of the supports it has put in place, in particular around the fishing community and changing lifelong learning there as people adapt to different skills. There is a lot of investment going into Donegal. The Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, opened the new sports facility adjacent to the ATU campus, which is a big win.
I increased the mental health budget. The Deputy referred to ring fencing but I try not to be prescriptive in terms of telling colleges how they award that funding. There is significant discretion for access and welfare officers. I also increased the student assistance fund to just under €20 million this year. Again, there is discretion. The Deputy knows very well the situation around defective blocks. I expect colleges to have regard to that. Local knowledge will be important.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:34+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-29