Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 November 2004
253 Ms O’Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Science if there is a sum in the order of €20 million from the capital third level budget 2004 due to the review carried out which suspended expenditure under that heading; if she will sanction the release of these funds for capital projects prioritised in the Kelly report, particularly for a college (details supplied) in County Limerick; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28278/04]
View answerAn amount of €20 million has been provided in the 2004 Estimates for capital expenditure in institutions designated under the Higher Education Authority. The report of the capital review and prioritisation working group on the future capital needs in the higher education sector, the Kelly report, was published recently. This report sets out a strategy to meet the future capital needs of the third level sector and identifies an overall estimated Exchequer requirement of almost €1.9 billion capital funding for the sector over a ten year period.
Major capital projects at the institution referred to by the Deputy have been included in the recommendations contained in the Kelly report. The recommendations and the proposed phasing of funding in the report are currently under consideration and I will determine my response to them in the context of the multi-annual capital allocations for the education sector which form part of the Estimates and budgetary process. Funding available in the current year will be factored into any decisions that I will take in that regard.
