SOLAS to look at business case for new FET college

Cavan Monaghan ETB worked with a Technical Team to refine its Preliminary Business Case for an estimated €40 million FET College of the Future for Cavan.

The deadline for the submission to SOLAS was the end of August. An initial submission was lodged back in mid-January.

Each application will then be evaluated on criteria such as value for money, affordability and strategic policy and priority alignment.

The sizeable submission is being made under the College of the Future Major Projects Fund and outlined costings, architectural considerations and economic and carbon emissions/climate action appraisals for the proposed development.

The local ETB is one of 10 in the country competing for the flagship investment, with the plan for Cavan to build a new state-of-the-art campus to serve 1,000 students.

Now Taoiseach, and then as Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, announced that Cavan Institute has been chosen as one of 10 locations back in December 2022, part of the Government’s ‘Colleges of the Future’ strategy.

The wider strategy seeks to streamline FET provision around the country, making pathways into Further Education and Training more accessible.

The new college campus, if the ETB submission is successful, will complement the existing FET Campus on the Dublin Road, together further strengthening the provision of third level educational programmes at Levels 5 and 6, as well as delivering on apprenticeships.