Vol. 478 No. 3
80 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Education the current progress on the provision of a Tipperary Rural Business Development Institute in Clonmel, County Tipperary; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11116/97]
In July 1995, the Government approved the establishment of the Tipperary Rural and Business Development Institute. A steering committee to plan this development was set up in October 1995. The Institute will be run on the basis of a distributed campus with a core centre located in Thurles, a second in Clonmel and an extended network of outreach centre located around the county. Planning of the Thurles campus is proceeding satisfactorily and it is intended to seek tenders for the project shortly.
The original proposal for the Clonmel campus was based on the refurbishment of vacant second level accommodation. However, the premises continue to be required for the provision of second level accommodation and are not available for use by Tipperary Rural and Business Development Institute. Alternative sites have been examined and a proposal recently received from County Tipperary South Riding Vocational Education Committee is being considered by my Department.
