Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-21
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Helen McEntee (FG), Meath East

The over-riding priority needs to be two things, and I know the Deputy will agree with this. First, we need to ensure the students currently in the college can complete their studies. I have been given assurances that that will continue. The agreed approach is to support Carlow College in delivering the existing programmes through to their completion to August 2028. Second, as the Deputy rightly said, we have excellent people who have been working there for many years and we need to make sure they are supported. I know the Minister has been engaging directly with the college because of the fact that it is a private, autonomous institution outside of the publicly funded higher education system. While there is a need to respect its autonomy, we need to make sure we support such highly skilled, educated and trained people and professionals, who have been imparting their knowledge to students for years, to apply for competitions to fill vacancies in situ that they will be working closely with, or to examine what other opportunities may be available to them. I can relay the concerns the Deputy has raised directly to the Minister.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:58+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-21