I am very conscious of the impact the pandemic has had on our students. To ensure the safety of our students and staff in further and higher education under the remit of my Department, the majority of college will be online for this semester. In recognition of the challenges facing full time third level students the Government has approved once off funding of €50m to provide additional financial assistance in this academic year. My Officials and I are developing the process on how this once-off funding will be utilised for submission to Government prior to commencement. Once finalised the details will be available for students.
The funding of Tegasc Agricultural Colleges, private Agricultural Colleges partnered with Teagasc and students of the respective colleges are a matter for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.