2026-01-28

I raise the issue of the new Kilkenny college of the future. In October 2024, the Department announced the purchase of a stand-alone 15 acre site that would become the new home of the college of the future in Kilkenny. Government funding worth tens of millions of euro will be required to drive the development of the site at Joinersfolly, south of Kilkenny city. This site will create a new state-of-the-art education and training campus for Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board and, more importantly, consolidate the delivery of skills provision for the county. It is really positive news that we have our own site but we need this project to move on to the next stage as a matter of urgency. The purchase of the 15-acre site was hugely important for the region. I and my colleagues are incredibly excited to see it become a campus that will delivery so much for the learners, staff, and the community of Kilkenny and Carlow ETB. In 2022, the Government announced that Kilkenny had been chosen as one of the locations to develop a further education and training college of the future. It is not ideal at the moment that further education and training provision in Kilkenny has been scattered around 15 different locations in the city. Now provision will be brought together in one modern, high-specification facility, where learners will have the opportunity to progress in the best possible facilities. This is what we mean when we speak about driving parity of esteem across the tertiary sector. It should not matter where people live, what they are studying, or whether they are in FET or university. Everybody should have the opportunity to reach their potential and they should have that opportunity as close to their home as possible. As I said earlier, the project will consolidate existing provision, incorporate new training programmes and specialisms, and develop support services at one location with convenient transport access and services. There is huge excitement in Kilkenny and Carlow ETB. I extend warm congratulations and thanks to the executive team, originally led by Eileen Curtis, and now being brilliantly driven by Dr. Lindsay Malone, and to the current and previous board members for their commitment and support for the project. It will bring enormous benefits for students in the years ahead. As a former chairman of Kilkenny and Carlow ETB for over seven years, it was a priority for us to get a further education and training campus for Kilkenny. When I was chairman of Kilkenny and Carlow ETB, we launched Carlow Institute of Further Education and Training, which has been a tremendous success, with more than 1,000 students. For Kilkenny city and county to be at the stage it is at now marks an important step forward in the delivery of the college campus but we are ready to go. We just need a nod from the Government to appoint consultants to get this project started. This will be transformational for Kilkenny, the south east, and all the staff and students who currently use and potentially will use Kilkenny and Carlow ETB in the future. There is a trade expo tomorrow night in Carlow, run and organised by Kilkenny and Carlow ETB. There will be thousands of students from across the constituency who will get the opportunity to meet potential employers on the trade side. The fact that they can now learn their trade in Carlow and Kilkenny is significant. We have a brilliant facility in Carlow which is state of the art. It is top class. We need the same in Kilkenny and we need it now.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The proposal before us, as he said, is not just another bricks-and-mortar project. It is a strategic investment to deliver an integrated further education and training college for Kilkenny which addresses historical infrastructure deficits and drives the reform we have committed to across the FET sector. As the Deputy told us, a suitable site has been acquired at Joinersfolly, to the south of Kilkenny city. This purchase, coupled with the investment in enabling infrastructure, will consolidate dispersed provision into a single modern campus and deliver a consistent learner experience across a wide range of programmes. As the Deputy said, it is not ideal that provision has been scattered around 15 different locations. It should not matter where people live. This proposal aims to and will change that. Kilkenny and Carlow ETB proposes to deliver a flagship facility designed for approximately 1,000 full-time learners and 3,800 part-time learners. The campus will bring together training services, post leaving certificate courses, back to education initiatives, Youthreach, the adult learning service, adult guidance, and youth and community education under one roof and with room to adapt as needs evolve. Following a robust evaluation, the Kilkenny project has been approved to proceed to the pre-tender project design, planning and procurement strategy stage. SOLAS has already commenced preparatory work on standardised tender documentation towards the appointment of design teams. The departmental officials recently met with all 12 of the chief executives who have projects under this programme. At this meeting, the ETBs were informed that they need to prioritise the appointment of design teams for these projects in 2026. This initiative is one of 12 projects in the FET college major capital programme. Since September, eight have progressed to the same pre-tender stage, alongside Kilkenny, and these include Cork, Cavan, Bray, Newcastle West, Clonmel, Galway city and Dublin. Our intent is that all 12 projects will be fully designed and ready to tender within the current national development plan timeline to 2030, with strategic delivery occurring along the same timeline. The FET major capital programme tackles legacy deficits and supports consolidation in high-quality facilities. It integrates FET pathways, develops specialist centres, strengthens unified tertiary planning and forges links with regional industries so learners train for real jobs in their local economy. All of this is anchored in the FET strategy's three pillars of building skills, fostering inclusion and facilitating pathways. The pre-tender stage interrogates the preferred option, refines assumptions, advances design to inform the detailed business case, and sets the procurement strategy and project execution plan. It is about certainty on scope, budget, risks and delivery sequencing.

I particularly welcome the last words of the Minister of State on delivery because that is what we want. I really welcome the fact we are getting so close to the appointment of a design team this year for this project. It is not only the staff of Kilkenny and Carlow ETB that will benefit from this. There are 5,000 full-time and part-time students in Kilkenny who can benefit from the service. We are ready to go in Kilkenny. If we need to be put forward as a pilot scheme or an exemplar for other ETBs to follow that is absolutely no problem. Kilkenny and Carlow ETB has experience in managing high-volume capital developments, incorporating almost €90 million in what it has done over the past number of years. There is real-life experience. This has to be done urgently. Everybody in Carlow and Kilkenny ETB is excited for all of the current and future FET learners in the locality. With one in ten adults in Ireland now learning through FET or apprenticeships, the ongoing development of high-quality college environments is absolutely key, especially in locations such as Kilkenny and the south east. We will play a critical role in meeting the increasing demand for upskilling in our communities. The capital infrastructure announcement for the Kilkenny college of the future is a milestone moment for FET in the south east. It will drive access to education, lifelong learning and workforce transformation in the region. As I have said, we need action and, more importantly, we need to see delivery. I implore the Minister of State to pull out Kilkenny and Carlow ETB as a stand-alone project. We are ready to go. We just need a little bit more impetus and drive from the Department to get this project over the line. It is all about delivery and I welcome the feedback and comments of the Minister of State. I also welcome her support and that of the Minister, Deputy Lawless, for this particular project. It is a key infrastructure project for the south east and thousands of children and learners will benefit year after year.

I am grateful to Deputy Cleere for providing me with the opportunity to set out the position for this project in Kilkenny. The Department and I are prepared to continue to work collaboratively with Kilkenny and Carlow ETB via SOLAS to advance this ambition. Capital investment is a key priority for the Department, and I recognise fully the importance of developing, enhancing and supporting the FET sector to allow it to provide high-quality campuses for teaching, learning and research. Let me be clear that the Department, working through SOLAS and in close collaboration with KCETB, will continue to drive this project at pace while maintaining high governance standards. We will deliver a campus that will stand the test of time and deliver for learners, employers and the wider community in Kilkenny. It is important to understand what is happening now. The project has been approved to proceed to pre-tender project design, planning and procurement stage with a number of other FETs. When at this stage, the preferred option is subject to more detailed scrutiny, assumptions have to be tested and refined, risks are better understood, and the design is sufficiently advanced to arrive at the detailed business case. This project is at the preliminary business case, which is an in-depth assessment of the project that looks at demand analysis and options analysis and reviews phasing potential and risk assessment. I assure Deputy Cleere it is the intent of the Department to move as quickly as possible with all of the FET colleges. I have been to Carlow already and I will visit Kilkenny in the near future, within the next few months and this is a promise, to hear what is happening there. I am very pleased that the project is at this stage and that there is real hope it will be delivered in the near future.