The Government has delivered a university presence to the South East spanning four campus locations for the first time in the history of the State. The South East Technological University (SETU) established on 1 May 2022 is the third largest technological university and enables students in the South East to study and gain qualifications at all levels of the NFQ, up to and including doctoral degrees, in their own region. SETU is also a catalyst for regional development and socio-economic progress in the South East.
Significant Exchequer and EU funding has been allocated to the university to date through mechanisms such as the Higher Education Landscape Fund(€31 million), and the Technological Universities Transformation Fund (€90 million) - with SETU receiving €19.8m of this funding. SETU is also benefiting from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan Education and Training Reforms programme (€40 million)and new opportunities for significant funding are available currently under the new TU RISE programme (€83.68 million) and the Technological Sector Advancement Fund (€50 million).
Since its establishment capital funding of over €9.14 million has been provided to SETU. The Department remains committed to providing capital funding supports to SETU. For example, the new Engineering, Computing and General Teaching building which is planned for SETU Waterford Campus is progressing as part of bundle II of the 'Higher Education PPP Programme'. This building will add significant capacity to the campus to help address increased demand. SETU Waterford Campus expansion and SETU Wexford Campus are both being progressed under the TSSPF framework.
I should point out to the Deputy that the title ‘national university’ is neither understood in this context, nor has it any meaning in policy or legislative terms and that the university footprint in the South East is a step-change in the advancement of higher education in the region.
