'College of the Future’ developments expected at Cavan Institute in 2024

Further developments are expected at Cavan Institute this year due to greater funding opportunities for the Education & Training Board sector. That’s according to local Fianna Fáil TD, Deputy Brendan Smith who invited the new Minister for Higher Education, Patrick O’Donovan to visit Cavan Institute, during discussions on the matter in the Dáil recently.

The local Fianna Fáil TD pointed to the massive developments at the Cavan town campus but highlighted the lack of accommodation for students. Deputy Smith went on to say that he had spoken to the Minister's predecessor on many occasions about the opportunities that exist to develop the further education sector on an all-Ireland, cross-Border basis and is “particularly glad” that there is a substantial capital programme.

“One of the projects of particular interest to me is the proposed development of the state-of-the-art campus in Cavan to provide additional accommodation for Cavan Institute,” continued Deputy Smith. “I would be grateful to get an overall view of what is happening on the building schemes.”

In his response, Minister O’Donovan highlighted how the budget for the Further Education & Training (FET) sector has grown from €5M to €65M and now, with a designated department, further education is being prioritised to allow Education & Training Boards (ETBs) to access funds that would not previously have been available to them.

“Regarding the Cavan Institute, as the Deputy stated it is being progressed under the FET college of the future project. Cavan and Monaghan ETB is now further refining its proposal to bring a clear focus to meet the infrastructure requirements. Once the business case has been refined and updated, it will be evaluated by SOLAS.

"I know I stated in my initial reply that a number of these projects are progressing, but they will not progress together based on which one is the slowest. Whichever ones can move at the quickest pace will be the ones that will be advanced. We will not be holding them back.”

The Minister went on to point to the SOLAS grant scheme of €8M of which Cavan and Monaghan ETB benefited to the tune of under €500,000. “The challenge now will be to make sure the business case is advanced and prioritised as quickly as possible and that we can turn it around. We have a capital budget that we never had before.

"These are the types of places, particularly in regional and rural locations, where people will receive tertiary education. That is why rural towns like Cavan and Monaghan are the places I would like to see prioritised during my tenure in this Department. In 2024 the total available capital budget for the ETB sector is €65.5M. I have heard quite a lot about the Cavan campus and it is my intention to visit it as soon as possible and to meet the local ETB in this context.”