Matt Carthy
Question:28. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to develop and support further and higher education in County Monaghan. [35748/22]
View answerThursday, 7 July 2022
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Written answers
As the Deputy will be aware, Cavan Monaghan Education and Training Board (CMETB) provides a broad range of further education and training options in Monaghan Institute and at other locations around County Monaghan. These options include various Adult and Community Education Programmes; PLC courses, Skills to Compete and Skills to Advance courses, Youthreach, as well as Apprenticeships and Traineeships. Tanagh Outdoor Education Centre also provides a range of specialised programmes.
The Letterkenny Campus of Atlantic Technological University has since 2019, collaborated with Monaghan Institute to offer a level 7 Degree in Health and Social Care on an outreach basis. My objective of encouraging the development of a more integrated tertiary education system is intended to increase opportunities for this and for other types of collaboration between higher and further education in the future.
The FET provision in County Monaghan, as across the country, is being supported and expanded by the investment under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025, the Adult Literacy for Life Strategy and Future FET: Transforming Learning, the FET strategy 2020-2024.
CMETB is leading one of 10 projects, which is funded nationally by SOLAS under the Skills to Advance Innovation for Collaboration Fund. This project, Upskilling of the Food Sector for the Future through action learning, focusses on identifying key skills for the future for the Food Sector and applying modern technology to design and deliver an approach, which will deliver agreed skills in a timely manner. It is envisaged that once this model is validated, it will provide a national framework for supporting SMEs and LEOs in the future.
It is also important to set-out these plans in the context of the border regions. The demand for skills does not stop at the border and for this reason, I fully endorse the development of cross-border projects in conjunction with the Regional Colleges in Northern Ireland. This measure will not just address skills provisions, but also ensure compatible education and training provisions in all regions. I believe that the new PEACE PLUS programme will provide further opportunity for these collaborations to flourish.
Finally CMETB has identified a project associated with Monaghan Institute for possible funding under the FET College of the Future Major Projects Fund, a new capital investment programme for the FET sector. This capital investment programme will support additional capacity, upgrading and enhancement of infrastructure in the FET sector, in line with the FET College of the Future principles as set out in the Future FET Strategy. The proposal submitted by CMETB is being assessed alongside other proposals from the sector to determine the initial major projects to proceed to the development of a detailed business case.