Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 November 2004
193 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Education and Science her proposals to certify a school (details supplied) in County Sligo in order to avail of the industrial buildings allowance which would secure the future of this college; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27721/04]
View answerPrevious correspondence did not make clear the context in which recognition was being sought, and it was recommended to the college that the question of recognition, in terms of accreditation of awards, could be addressed by making an application to the Further Education and Training Awards Council.
Section 843 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for capital allowances for buildings used for third level purposes. However, the Act confines such allowances to approved institutions in receipt of public funding which provide courses which are approved under the higher education grants schemes, and to qualifying expenditure approved for that purpose by the Minister for Education and Science following receipt of advice from the Higher Education Authority. In addition, section 32 of the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act 1999 provides that before making an order for the purpose of establishing an educational institution as a college, the Government is required to establish a committee to consider whether an educational institution should be established and to advise the Higher Education Authority in that regard.
As the allowances are confined under the Act to publicly funded third level institutions, it is not considered that the college in question would be eligible for the relief.
