Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 May 2024
10. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science for an update on the funding allocation to date and timeframe for the development of Cavan Institute as a hub for further education and training. [22976/24]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that over the course of 2023, Cavan Monaghan ETB (CMETB) was supported by SOLAS in developing its' Preliminary Business Case (PBC) proposal for Cavan town under the FET College of the Future Major Projects fund. The development of a robust PBC is fundamental to the requirements of the Infrastructure Guidelines.
The Cavan town proposal is one of twelve FET College of the Future major projects that submitted business case proposals to SOLAS in January of this year. CMETB has undertaken significant work in developing its' proposal which outlines its' infrastructural requirements for FET provision in its' region.
In late April and early May of this year, meetings were held between SOLAS and DFHERIS officials and representatives from each of the twelve ETBs to further develop and refine proposals. Discussions at these meetings centred around ensuring that proposals are aligned with national and regional policies, are affordable and provide value for money. SOLAS will be in contact with all twelve ETBS shortly including CMETB to provide feedback from these discussions. This feedback will allow ETBs to update their business cases, to bring a clearer focus on proposals, to achieve the development of required priority infrastructure, that meet the needs of their current and future FET learners.
Once business cases are updated, they will be evaluated by SOLAS and my department and those proposals that meet the required evaluation criteria will move to the next stage of development, which is the Project Design, Planning and Procurement Strategy Stage.
