Minister gives commitment to "progress" Cavan Institute premises
Cavan Institute is expecting good news as expansion plans are to be considered by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, in the coming months. Minister Harris recently took part in a virtual tour of the facility.
Cavan Institute has been on the building list in excess of eight years with very little progress achieved to date. Fianna Fáil TD, Niamh Smyth, raised this issue with the Minister in the Dáil yesterday: “Both the principal and deputy principal at Cavan Institute have been relentless in their efforts to attract students, to provide a broad spectrum of courses and to provide a positive learning experience for all those who attend,” she said in her Dáil address.
The education centre delivers over 60 full time courses each year. Deputy Smyth said they hold an excellent track record in terms of transitioning students to employment and higher education: “In the absence of a higher education facility in the border region, Cavan Institute responded by collaborating with a range of higher education colleges to deliver some of their courses on an outreach basis in Cavan so as to continue to meet the needs of students.”
The third level education centre needs further investment to build on that success: “I believe that Cavan Institute is best placed to become the hub for integrated Further Education and Training services in Cavan,” Deputy Smyth said, “However, I understand that the premises no longer meets the needs of students and without that physical infrastructure in place, this will not be possible.”
The Cavan Monagan TD is confident the needs of the college will be supported by the Department: “Having raised this issue with the Minister, I understand that he fully appreciates the need to progress this project and I look forward to hearing from Minister Harris as to when we can expect this project to advance. I am glad that he has given a commitment to me in the Dáil to progress these matters in the coming months and I will do everything within my power to ensure that he does,” she concluded.