I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this issue with me, as she does regularly. I think she is also a former student of the Wexford campus. I am delighted that we now have a South East Technological University, SETU. It is key. We have given a very clear commitment that, as part of that, there has to be a real and meaningful campus in Wexford. They are not just my words, though they are mine too. They are also a very clear commitment in the strategic plan being published by the South East Technological University. I k…

I assure the Deputy that the reference I made to €1 million was in respect of money given to the technological universities for planning for student accommodation. We have a much larger capital budget available. In fact, we have a new fund, the technological sector strategic projects fund, TSSPF. That fund will be available to Professor Campbell and others to take forward projects, including the project at the Wexford campus. The Deputy is right about the issue of research. One of the big game-changers for technolo…

I agree with the Deputy's last point. I am fed up with the lecturing tone that is taken to farmers. They know better than most about the climate. They are out on their farms while we are talking about it in the Dáil. They can see the changes and want sustainability, as I heard at the National Ploughing Championships. Research is our friend as we seek to come up with innovative approaches. We are funding a number of research projects through Science Foundation Ireland. The Deputy is right that the technological univ…

I have to wait to read the Deputy's submission. I thank her for the question. It is that awkward time at parliamentary questions where I am supposed to say that these are matters for budget day on 10 October, which is true. We are in the period where Departments are engaging on what their budget allocations will look like next year. Let us start with what we know. I want to see us take steps in the budget in a couple of weeks' time to address the cost of education for families and learners. We have tried to take a …

If you are sitting at home and having to find €3,000, you do not care what the Government calls it. It is effectively a fee in the sense that it is a bill that must be paid. If you have more than one child in college at the same time, as many people do, the impact is very real. The cost of going to college is, of course, even more expensive if students have to move out of home. I am acutely aware of the issue. What we have done this year, and it has been quite a good process, is publish the options paper. We have p…

I fully accept that students and parents are in no way immune to the cost-of-living crisis. We are living through an inflationary crisis, the likes of which has not been seen since the 1970s, and that is having a real impact on people in making ends meet; there are no two ways about that. That is why we put in place a number of measures last year to help students, parents and families, and we will do similar this year in trying to come forward with measures. I am keen that any cost-of-living package that is in the …

It is not that; it is grubby behaviour that should be called out as exactly what it is. The Government could not be clearer; the student accommodation in Sligo will not be used for anything other than students as far as the State is concerned. I am beyond disappointed that despite that message being clearly conveyed, private student accommodation is sitting, to my understanding, largely idle. I am clear on the planning conditions attached to that and I hope everybody is clear on that because we have planning laws i…

I take that point and I want to say one thing on the record of the House in the hope that it is helpful. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has confirmed to my Department that no contract has been entered into with the owners of the properties in Sligo, which were previously used as student accommodation, for the provision of emergency accommodation for the upcoming academic year. In addition, the Department has also confirmed that it has no plans to acquire this property into t…

That is a sound suggestion and I will undertake to talk to the Minister for Transport on this. I am not suggesting that this is the case but there cannot be any bureaucratic reason why we cannot all pull together to try to come up with short-term solutions. Digs and the rent-a-room relief are one solution and the transport issue is an interesting one. There is also the idea of a devolved capital grant, which would involve giving the universities, particularly the technological universities, a degree of discretion i…

I thank the Deputy for raising the question. The first thing he would agree with me is that all roads out of Kerry should not lead to Cork or Limerick when it comes to getting a university education. The first thing I have done is to ensure that Kerry is now a university county and that Tralee is now a university town. This is an important point because the Deputy's constituents in County Kerry can now access a university education in the Kingdom, in Kerry. They could not do it before and could not have done it a c…

I ask the Deputy to provide me with the details of his constituent who is sleeping in a tent in college because I would be interested to pursue that with the university. There should be no reason we cannot provide accommodation. We have the rent-a-room scheme with 2,500 beds throughout the country available for students to rent. I am not suggesting it is perfect and am certainly not suggesting it is easy, but people can do much better. We can do much better for students than the scenario the Deputy outlined there. …

I certainly do and am doing things for those students. The Tralee campus is not something for tomorrow or the future; it is there today. More students from Kerry and from across the country have applied to go to university in Kerry this year than last year; that is the point I am making. I certainly do not need to advocate to the Deputy about Kerry. The point he makes is right. We agree on bringing university education closer to people to reduce their commute times. I want to see more done in Kerry to provide educa…

I thank the Deputy for highlighting this important matter. My Department is here to help any part of the public service that needs more people trained in specific areas. That includes veterinarians, as we saw this year, doctors and nurses. We are now doing work on disability services. We stand ready to help any part of the public health service or any Department that wants to put a workforce plan in place. We are here and ready to help. We could do more planning in this area. I will outline what we have done so far…

I do not doubt the Deputy's sincerity about this. I need to say that 460 is not a number that I plucked out of the air. It is what the colleges in Ireland have told us they can do. If the Deputy ever finds himself in my position, all of this is contingent on asking the universities what they can do if we give them more money. The hospitals and others are asking what they can do about clinical places. The answer that they came up with collectively was 460. The benefit of this is that it is 460 extra every year. The …

I thank the Deputy for raising this. I did not think we were going to reach that question in oral questions. I do not have my physical answer to hand but I commit to coming back to the Deputy in writing on this today. At a high level, however, what programmes are provided by universities is an autonomous decision for them. No one wants me deciding what a university should or should not provide. It is an autonomous decision for universities. That is not to say I do not care about this issue. The Deputy is quite righ…

I thank Deputy Ó Cathasaigh for raising this question and for his ongoing engagement with me regarding South East Technological University and, indeed, the Waterford Crystal site. I hear a little mischief-making now and again. We are absolutely and fully committed to the Waterford Crystal site being purchased by South East Technological University. A huge amount of work has been undertaken by the university since the Deputy and I, and others, were there to announce the decision to acquire that site. I reassure the …

That is entirely right. I was talking to the South East Technological University team yesterday at the National Ploughing Championships. I know they are extraordinarily eager to advance the issue of student accommodation. I have had excellent conversations with Professor Campbell about that. Waterford is particularly well placed. We want all our technological universities to develop student accommodation. Of course, they have done it before in Waterford. Historically, it was done with the Waterford Institute of Tec…

I agree. As it is a sensitive moment with regard to that public private partnership, PPP, bundle, I will be limited in what I will say. I expect to be in a position to bring finality and clarity to that very shortly. I know how much the new engineering, computing and general teaching building that is planned for SETU in Waterford has been anticipated for a very long time. I accept there have been very many false dawns over the years but the building will add significant capacity to the campus to help increased dema…

I answered a question from another Deputy from County Kerry earlier regarding students from Kerry going to Cork for their university education. Of course, that will always happen but I am so proud we can stand here now, as I am sure the Deputy is as a Kerry Deputy, and say that Kerry is now a university county, Tralee is now a university town, and there is a real capacity to do more in Killarney as regards further and higher education, which is at the nub of his question. We have made huge progress on the education…

I am aware of the great pride in tourism in Kerry. If I was not, I was made aware of it at the National Ploughing Championships yesterday, with the Kerry tent and all the people wearing "Come to Kerry" hats. It was quite something but you should come to County Wicklow too. I am very aware of the pride Kerry places in that. This is a very exciting project. I will be honest. We would not be at this point if it had not been for Kerry Deputies. They have done an amazing job in putting forward projects. We are back in a…