Departmental Funding
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-29
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Brendan Smith (FF), Cavan-Monaghan

I thank the Minister for his response. With regard to Deputy Ward's concluding remarks, I very much welcome the fact that the Minister was the first Minister who was able to announce an all-Ireland university. He has worked very assiduously, along with Dundalk Institute of Technology and Queen's University, to have Dundalk Institute of Technology as a college of Queen's University. It is the first all-Ireland university we will have. This is practical and I very much welcome it.
I very much welcomed, as did the board of management and the staff and students in Cavan Institute, the Minister's recent visit. As Councillor Clifford Kelly, the chairperson of the board, indicated that day, a number of us have worked over the years to develop the college. We have seen it grow from being an extra class at second level in Breifne College to being a substantial provider of further education. Today it is one of the largest colleges in the country. We need additional accommodation, as the Minister saw himself at first hand. I sincerely hope his officials, working with Cavan and Monaghan ETB and Cavan Institute, will be able to progress the particular college of the future to the next stage so we can advance towards construction.

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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