James Lawless
Kildare North · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“I am always open to feedback. The academics and authors of that report are entitled to their views, as are others. I just do not share all of their conclusions. As the Deputy said, the consultant spending was before my time. A lot of it was before the Department even existed.”
“More broadly, and this is something I think there is great potential to do more on, we are also promoting modern methods of construction, MMC, so we can embrace 2D or 3D models where they are either partially assembled off site and then brought to the location or almost fully assembled and the finished kit is brought into place.”
“In the energy space, that includes a commitment of €10 billion to enhance the grid capacity, because we need to be able to transit the energy as well as generate it, the workforce and the talent to do that - everything from retrofitting to green energy technicians and renewable energy engineers.”
“The capital funding envelop available to me is the mechanism through which I fund these projects, which is significant with €4.55 billion allocated across my Department for capital projects. SETU is the relevant institute in the south east, and it has multiple campuses, including a presence in the Xcelerate Centre at St.”
“I will recap on some of the measures I have introduced already because it is important to put them on the record again. In the previous budget, I was pleased to introduce the first ever permeant fee cut for students since free fees were introduced almost 30 years ago with a €500 permanent reduction.”
“Exactly. That is why we have a record €4.5 billion commitment across the sector. Regarding student facilities, there is the likes of the bundle 2 PPP programme which enhances student facilities on university campuses across the country.”
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“Senator Rabbitte has a very good sense of the student pressure zones in terms of rent pressure zones. I will certainly look at that and I think it will be taken into account when the colleges sit down with others. Senator O'Reilly asked a question about how this will actually work in practice. One of the ways it will work is that the colleges identify sites, which they can develop themselves if they wish to do so, or they can partner with the private sector to come on site and build it out for them. Part of that conversation will be about what the rent will be. The colleges have the opportunity to be involved in that conversation and set a rent that is appropriate to them and that they are comfortable with on behalf of their students. That is part of that engagement.”
“I will continue to work on that, but that was really positive. On Senator O'Loughlin's comments about the opportunity for north-west Kildare to play its part in apprenticeship delivery, she will be pleased to know I have already spoken to Kildare and Wicklow ETB on that, encouraging it very strongly to put forward proposals we can then work with. I thank Senator Scahill for his comments. He is right that we are going way beyond what we currently anticipate as the need. In terms of the 15,000 deficit, we are looking at 42,000. Let us not always be on the back foot; let us actually get ahead of it. That is very much the intention. I am familiar with the Athlone green city initiative. I have had a number of meetings about that and I admire the ambition that is there and certainly want to support that in every way I can.”
“The mid-term review of the national access plan is really impactful and shows progress being made in an empirical way. We had a target of students with disabilities participating in higher and further education. We have actually exceeded our targets for 2028 and 2026, so for the past 15 months we have got two years ahead of schedule. We will not rest on our laurels; we will continue to drive that on and to do more. It goes back to the point I have often made about targeted supports, which is that rather than something for everyone in the audience, we ask who the cohorts that particularly need assistance are and who particularly needs help. For students with disabilities, obviously a cohort that fits into that category, we have given those additional supports and now we see the fruits of that coming through already.”
“Cork is actually in the first phase of the strategy in any event, so they are already being engaged with in MTU and in UCC. I was in UCC just last week. I met President O'Halloran and we talked about the strategy as regards UCC as well. Senator Harmon also talked about the student protections and I completely share her concerns about that. That is why I introduced in the legislation the three-year protection window - to make sure that student tenancies are not reset. As regards the way it was done with the new landlord-tenant legislation on RPZs, had I not made that intervention, they would have been subject to an annual reset when they vacated, so I had to proactively intervene and secure amendments in the legislation. That was done and that happened and that is now law. I thank Senator O'Loughlin for her kind words.”
“I launched the veterinary school in Letterkenny ATU just recently as well. I completely agree that it is so important and transformative to have professional qualifications delivered across the TUs in regional areas where previously they were the preserve of the big cities. Dublin was the only place and UCD was the only college in the country where you could do veterinary until now. Now you can do it in three places: SETU, ATU and UCD. Senator Harmon spoke about supporting colleges through the roll-out. I absolutely agree, and again, we have an engagement group up and running and we have had a number of meetings already with a number of colleges. I know the Senator has a national remit but she spoke to Cork as well about the MTU and Cork. As I said a moment ago, any projects that are ready to go should approach us immediately.”
“Talk to us about your proposals." I have said clearly, and I said it to President Orla Flynn when I met her last week, that if there are proposals outside of those three cities and they are ready to go, people should come straight in the door with them. I will not stand on ceremony or wait for six months in line with the 12 months to get to another phase. If there are projects around the country, in any part of the country, that are ready to go, let us take them now and get them moving. I have said that, and Senators should feel free to speak to the people in the different colleges and areas they represent because I will not wait around for anything. Let us get this moving as quickly as we possibly can. In addition, I totally agree with Senator Cosgrove's remarks about the pharmacy school coming into ATU.”
“We need to make sure we have the skills and personnel ready to do it. As it happens, tomorrow morning, I am bringing all those bodies together to work through that. That is so important. Senator Cosgrove spoke about the strategy as it pertains particularly to Sligo. In terms of ATU, the first phase of the strategy talks about Dublin, Cork and Galway so, obviously, ATU Galway can participate in that. However, it does not stop there. The first phase is where we have expressions of interest and we go out to colleges in those three cities and say, "What do you have ready to go? Are you interested in partaking in this?”
“One thing I frequently speak to is matching the Government's ambition in terms of infrastructure, construction, energy, grid, transport, ports, roads and railways, not to mention housing front and centre. We need to have the trades, the skills and the people ready to do that. Just tomorrow morning, as it happens, I am hosting a construction round-table event. I am bringing about 40 different companies in the construction sector together along with my training agencies, SOLAS, the ETBs and the Higher Education Authority and having a round-table discussion to say, "What are the skills you need? What are you getting from the training system? Have you enough, and if not, tell me, and then I can actually begin to pay for the system to supply those skills." It is paramount to deliver other serious projects, which we absolutely want to do.”
“It is not even necessarily about a deep dive into one particular specialty but about the opportunity during a university education to sample humanities, sciences, commerce and the wider world in order that when you go forward, particularly in an age of AI and digital evolution, you will not be tied to one particular set of skills but will have the ability to be transversal, as a number of Senators have said, and can bring those skills with you. Senator Kennelly spoke about the cost of education, improving access and the 55 professorships in the technological universities which I have introduced. He mentioned correctly the need to amplify our apprenticeship output and our skills.”
“Good man. I am replying to his comment on the free student meal. It is something I will have a look at. There is a €20 million fund, the student assistance fund, which colleges can use at their discretion. If a particular college wanted to start utilising that for that purpose, that would be within its control. If the Senator knows any that are interested, he might encourage them along to that. Certainly, I am happy to work with him on that and see what happens there. The other point Senator Boyhan made - again, a few others touched on this as well - was about broad education, that is, the idea that it is not just about what happens in the classroom or in the lecture hall but also about the sport, the participation, the friendships, the networks and all that campus life. I have been very strong, I hope, on advocating for broad education.”
“I also take on board - I am sure he will have a look back - the Senator's comments around the idea of a free hot meal for third level students. It is something I will examine as a pilot. I would mention the student assistance fund, which is a €20 million fund. Senator Boyhan is on cue; we could not have Hamlet without the prince.”
“It is stitched into the law now that regardless of how many times students come and go from a particular unit, the rent cannot be reset other than after a minimum three-year window, which is very important. Senator Boyhan talked about a number of things. I acknowledge his comments on innovation and research. We might return to those in here another day. He mentioned Trinity College Dublin, TCD, and Dartry Hall. For the information of the House - people may or may not be aware - I have approved a project under the short-term activation fund to deliver, I think, 350-odd beds in Dartry Hall. It is either under way or will certainly be getting under way very quickly. That will progress well and it is, again, a really tangible impact with beds coming on stream.”
“This is something where the State must use all levers at its disposal - State lands and assets, local authorities, agencies and the colleges themselves. We all need to work together to make that happen. Of course, the Senator stepped through the viability measures including the 9% VAT rate and a variety of measures we need to look at. On the protection window, which I am going to turn to a couple of times, a number of people spoke about rent caps and protecting students. As Senator Ryan outlined, I have included in the legislation, which is now on the Statute Book, a three-year carve-out. No student can have their rent reset for a minimum of three years into their tenancy, despite the fact that students will, very often, come and go by summer.”
“Grand. I thank Senator Dee Ryan for setting out a number of items that I have been progressing over the past year. I thank her for her support on that as well as Fianna Fáil spokesperson in the Seanad, and indeed the wider team. I thank the wider House for its ongoing engagement on these matters. It was a pleasure to visit Limerick recently with Senator Ryan and see the Whitebox development with 1,500 beds that are about to come on stream. It utilised the new design template that I published. It was great to see that bearing fruit already in them being able to use it. We published that ahead of the wider strategy last June. They used that in their design and it is now coming on stream, so that is great to see. I take the point about local authorities playing a part as well. That is very important.”
“What I am going to do is take each of the comments. There were a number of comments. I thank everybody for their contributions and I am going to step through the different issues that were raised. How much time do I have?”
“The student accommodation assistance scheme focuses on dedicated supports for Travellers, Roma students and students exiting care. I have met a number of care groups and worked with them. We have the student assistance fund, which is now at an historical high, of just under €20 million. It is available on discretionary merit and is available to access offices in colleges to award as they see fit in their student bodies. We have increased the fund for students with disabilities, mental health supports and many other funds. I am conscious of time. I have set out some of the affordability measures I have introduced in the current budget, along with the significant inroads we have made in the strategy I have set out in the student accommodation plan, which is now up and running and entering phase 1.”
“That benefits approximately 108,000 undergraduate students as well as 14,000 apprentices who also had their apprentice contribution reduced pro rata in the same way. I increased the SUSI grant rates by between €200 and €430 in different bands, supporting 30,000 students, and I increased the threshold for fee support to €120,000. Students in a household with an income of €120,000 or less will pay a maximum €2,000 in student contributions this year. As people go down the income scale, they pay less and less. Some 44,000 students did not have to pay any fees at all. Any student in a household earning €120,000 will have had a maximum contribution of €2,000 towards their fees. There are a number of other measures, such as the 1916 bursary scheme, which targets students from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds.”
“More than 44,000 students have had their fees, including the student contribution fee, paid in full, and another 30,000 students have benefited from higher maintenance grants because of the cost of living away from home. I deliberately targeted students living 30 km or more away from the campus, with additional maintenance grant supports in the last budget to make sure that those students who had the extra burden of travel or accommodation were supported through real money increases in their grant. Also in budget 2026, I introduced a permanent €500 fee reduction in the student contribution charge, reducing it from €3,000 to €2,500. That is the first such permanent reduction since 1995.”
“Budget 2026 was the beginning of a transition away from temporary supports towards a more permanent and balanced system, one that provides certainty so that students and their families know from one year to the next what is happening and what they can expect. Under the existing free fees initiative, the State supports eligible undergraduate students, who account for the vast majority of undergraduate students in the State, with tuition costs. More than 148,000 students had their full fees paid in the 2024-25 academic year. Along with that, the SUSI grant scheme provides targeted supports, with more than 65,000 students receiving SUSI supports in the last year.”
“The average cost of student accommodation around the country approximates to €700 per month. That is a significant burden for many. I appreciate there will be some above that, and probably some below that, but that is the average nationally. In response to that, I am targeting a number of financial supports which amount to €176 million annually to assist students with accommodation and living costs. I have achieved that in a number of ways. I will continue to outline my commitment, which I reiterate again today, to improve student supports in a way that is equitable, sustainable and fair, and also provides certainty for families for planning for budgets, etc., year on year.”
“We are now asking the traditional universities to produce the same set of proposals and identify sites, land banks and areas within their grounds where student accommodation could proceed. These projects are all being advanced on a phased basis, supported by a demand analysis, structured engagement with the development sector and financial frameworks to enable delivery, including, for example, the enablement of a nominations agreement for technological universities to enter into borrowing arrangements, which was not previously available. The technological universities had long sought it. It is now contained and delivered within this strategy. The first phase is being rolled out across the areas of highest demand, which are Dublin, Cork and Galway. It is the intention to move to the second phase as quickly as possible this year.”
“That scheme has proved popular with homeowners who can now earn up to €14,000 per year tax free, providing an important and flexible source of accommodation supply. Looking to our technological universities, they have also identified potential accommodation projects. I engaged with them over the last year to ask for submissions to be made on potential sites for campus accommodation where we could look to build out student accommodation. They engaged on that fulsomely and we now have a number of projects identified around the country which we can begin to target for building out these sites. We have also expanded that to the traditional universities under the higher education sector student accommodation programme, HSAP.”
“We are already seeing the fruits of the strategy slowly beginning to bear fruit. It is only six weeks since it was launched but we are seeing shoots beginning to emerge. Some 3,000 student beds are now under construction around the country and a substantial pipeline of more than 14,000 beds with planning is ready to be activated. We also have the additional relief through the rent-a-room scheme, with advertised student beds rising from under 2,000 in 2023 to more than 5,000 in 2026. That is effectively what we call digs accommodation. The number of beds has more than doubled in the space of three years, with some promotional campaigns and interventions around that to drive it on.”
“Some of the supply-side interventions include reductions in VAT costs for new apartments, changes to rent-setting arrangements for student-specific accommodation, and the introduction of more flexible design standards to reduce construction costs. On the design standards, I should say that it is flexibility without any diminution of quality. It is about high quality, best in class, using international comparators to deliver student accommodation, but in a way that is efficient and optimal in terms of the number of students per development, preserving common areas and interaction. That is good not only for optimising bed capacity in each development but also for student well-being and mental health. Providing shared spaces, common areas and living areas is a good thing to do in any event.”
“It is giving students monetary supports to help them pay their way, pay their rent or digs, whatever their expenses are, as well as intervening at supply level to ensure we increase the stock of building across the State and get shovels into the ground as quickly as possible. Recent measures, including the VAT reductions and targeted rent reforms, are helping to unlock developments that had previously stalled due to viability challenges, ensuring that projects with planning permission can now progress more quickly. There were several developments around the country which had planning permission secured but had stalled and had not got out of the blocks. We needed some kind of intervention to make those viable. We have done that using a number of measures, some of which are already beginning to come on stream.”
“Meeting this demand will require strong collaboration between the State, higher education institutions, that is, the colleges, and the private sector to deliver purpose-built student accommodation at the pace and scale that is required. I mentioned that the strategy is structured in two pillars, one being supply and viability. That includes the delivery of both on-campus and off-campus accommodation as well expanding the use of rent-a-room, digs-type accommodation. Pillar 2 focuses on affordability supports, ensuring students are supported regardless of whether they live at home, rent privately, are in purpose-built accommodation or are availing of a room in a private home..”
“The existing deficit is about 15,000 beds, which is contributing to unsustainably long commutes for many students. Students are spending longer on the road, bus or train than I or anyone would wish them to. That is where we are going to have to fill a shortfall of 15,000. Over the next decade, as we look at the demographics coming into third level and further education, according to the CSO data, the numbers in the secondary school population over the last five or six years have swelled. That will work its way into the further and higher education system over the next couple of years. There are demographic pressures at play here as well. As we play that forward over the next ten years, the demand will reach up to about 42,000 additional beds required.”
“That is why student accommodation remains one of the most immediate, real and present challenges for students today. I recently secured Government approval and published the National Student Accommodation Strategy 2026-2035. This strategy sets out a clear and ambitious roadmap focused on increasing the supply of student beds, but also on strengthening affordability measures for students. It has twin pillars of viability and affordability, viability to intervene to ensure the beds get built in the first place, and affordability to ensure students have the resources to be able to rent those rooms and take up those accommodation offers. It addresses those challenges in two ways. The demand is projected over the next decade to stretch to 42,000 additional beds.”
“The talent and skills of our population are what we have to thank for progress we have made today in advances in the economy and societal resilience, and all the other positives we enjoy. It is thanks to the hard work of our people and their imagination, innovation and determination. These strengths, in turn, support the public good and fund the essential services we all rely on, critical things like education, housing and healthcare, of course. This is being built on a strong skills base and sustainable investment in education and in our students. Many of the achievements and advancements underpinned by the National Training Fund and the national development plan, which are laying strong foundations for the future, are infheistíocht inár ndaltaí. I fully recognise that the cost of education remains a key concern for students.”
“It is a great pleasure to be in the Seanad today. I look forward to updating Senators on the work of my Department, myself and the team around me, particularly in the areas of student accommodation and supports. I understand we might return another day to research, innovation and higher education, some of the other aspects of the portfolio. I understand that we are under time pressure today. Further and higher education are critical elements of Ireland's economic growth, which is fundamentally tied to our societal progress because we do not have a strong society without a strong economy. This has been a core pillar of Government policy for several decades now. Our greatest natural resource is our people. It is a talent we all have, that is latent within us, and that we can unlock through the training and education systems.”
“I will pick this up with Deputy Ahern off-line and will engage with the Minister for Health on it as well to see what can be done for this particular student.”
“We are trying to increase the number of healthcare places in the system and we have added 1,100 across therapies, medicine, nursing, midwifery, etc. Placement opportunities are essential for these courses to go full term. I have been working very closely with the Minister for Health on this. The Minister for Health has appointed HSE regional co-ordinators for placements, specifically for this issue, to ensure that each hospital and healthcare facility is supported and makes these places available. Deputy Ahern mentioned that Trinity College has a relationship with Tallaght hospital. One of the issues is that there has to be more flexibility in the system. A hospital may have always had a relationship with a particular institute but it will not always have it and will have to look beyond it.”
“The idea behind that is to look at professional services and how they are being impacted by AI, that is, legal firms, accountancy firms, professional consulting firms and many of those white-collar jobs in which we are seeing graduate recruitment being somewhat paused, perhaps, to understand the implications of that. Then that will inform part of the next planning for the next round of AI Ready and subsequent iterations of that. The National Skills Council will be very much a part of the team attending at that event and will draw from that expert evidence as to where we need to go next and what courses need to be offered.”
“Again, the Deputy made strong points, and I fully agree. The intention is to continue to expand the portal. In addition, I have asked my Department to develop what we are calling a roadmap for technology and future skills and a statement of ambition, which will set out where we want this to go. There are all the things the Deputy has just described. In addition to the initial range of courses offered, the National Skills Council comprises a group of people, cross-sector, who are engaging with my Department and me to look at skills gaps that exist. We are holding a number of skills round-table events, where we bring sectoral employers into a room. We will host a construction event later this month, and I will host an AI-specific event then in June.”
“For example, a number of ETBs, including my local ETB, KWETB, have recently launched their own AI programme, which is a series of skills and training courses they are now offering at local level but also online in many cases. Every ETB in the country is taking up that baton as well similarly to roll out those AI courses. AIready.ie will continue to be expanded and to have additional course offerings as well as having finger-posting to the different options available on other compatible websites.”
“Absolutely. That is very much the intention. It is, as the Deputy rightly said, currently pitched as an entry-level offering to raise the level of awareness among the general public and to broach that AI literacy or AI familiarity challenge in order that non-technical users can become more au fait with the technology, that it is demystified, as the Deputy said, and that they can get ready for it. That is the goal of the first round. It is very much the intention to continue to build on that platform, to host increasingly more sophisticated courses, to diversify and multiply the number of course offerings through it and to have the AIready.ie platform as a portal to other platforms.”
“I am also launching a new range of courses, free or heavily subsidised through the Springboard+ programme, which will bring a number of microcredential courses and other courses to learners. They can be in employment, they can be independent but those courses will be offered at a heavily subsidised rate, with over 7,200 places being delivered by 36 providers nationwide. Between aiready.ie , Springboard+ courses and a number of microqualifications being delivered through the ETBs we now have quite a wide array of courses and training providers in the AI space.”
“We have advances in technology that we can reap benefits from, but ultimately we will move on to a different paradigm. Among the goals of strengthening literacy for all users, I recently launched aiready.ie as an AI skills platform. It is developed by SOLAS in partnership with my Department. That was based on the advice of the national skills council, which had identified that AI literacy was a fundamental competency and that we had strong skills in the expert-user area but were not as pervasive across the ordinary user or person who wishes to use it for their accounts, for productivity gains or even for planning a personal event to build a foundational awareness. That is an essential element.”
“I thank an Teachta Moynihan. The pace and scale at which AI and technology in general is changing, adapting and transforming continues to astound us all, so it is all the more important that we try to stay ahead of it and that we drive our national AI skills agenda forward. It is one thing I am very conscious of right across education, research and innovation. As a productivity tool, so many businesses and users are adopting AI now in different ways. In my view, it is positive when properly harnessed and it is welcome. I do not think the worst-case fears are founded, nor do I think the wildest exaggerations of its abilities will be borne out. It is a bit like the Microsoft Excel programme, Google search or, indeed, a smartphone when they came along.”
“The entire point of that exercise is to engage with employers and with industry in the same room as my training agency, SOLAS, the HEA, the ETBs, etc.; to have the conversation in real time; to ask what the gaps and needs are; and to ascertain what patterns are coming through. Are they being supplied with the relevant competencies? Is the training system providing? One of the findings from the most recent event was that transversal skills need to be increased in terms of communication, analytical ability, teamwork and those sorts of universal skills, which are not as specialist as some courses might provide, but are ultimately foundational to everything.”
“That is important to hear. I have set up what I call a skills roundtable series of events where I am engaging with sectoral employers. The first event took place about six weeks ago in Grangegorman with a range of employers. I am hosting a construction skills event with the Minister, Deputy Harkin, and the Minister, Deputy Browne, later this month to hear from different construction employers such as the Construction Industry Federation, etc. I will be talking to AI and professional services employers before the summer, and then moving onto life sciences. I think pharmaceuticals will be the next up. The Deputy may have an interest in that and may wish to suggest attendees. Perhaps the company he referred to may be a suitable panellist at that.”
“Between the Tyndall National Institute, which I mentioned already, and other activities where we are investing in research and research funding, I opened this morning the first call for the more general round of the INSPIRE programme. A total of €150 million is being made available, and I strongly expect Cork to be making significant bids and submissions of interest to replace the foundational equipment across each university, labs, libraries, equipment, etc., as a refresh and rebuild module. That is the first phase and it is open as of today.”
“I thank the Deputy. I would welcome his input, with his strong local knowledge and policy knowledge of the area, for STEM provision in Cork in particular. If he thinks there are particular gaps that we need to fill or areas we need to work on or address, I would welcome that engagement. One of the policy initiatives I am pursuing is a widening of our doctoral programmes because many STEM workers ultimately come through PhD programmes. Many of those go on to work in industry. I think up to 90% of them do. The earning potential of those with doctorates is significantly ahead of undergraduates coming out at earlier stages. The statistics show us that those with doctorates are more likely to found campus companies or to go on to very successful enterprises afterward.”
“There is a number of tertiary courses in STEM as well. Significantly, I recently visited the Tyndall National Institute in Cork, where I made a €160 million commitment in terms of building out the next generation of semiconductors, photonics and quantum and AI technologies. It is a world-leading institution. That was the first output of my new INSPIRE research programme. That is money well spent in the Cork area.”
“Part of the conversation, as it always is, is understanding their requirements, needs and skills and making sure they have a strong STEM ecosystem in place. Of course, they do. The presidents of both UCC and MTU, Professor O'Halloran and Professor Cusack, provide significant STEM courses and options, along with the ETB STEM pathways through the tertiary system. There is a number of tertiary degrees with a STEM focus being delivered in Cork. I advise anybody engaging with students to make them aware of the tertiary degree paths, because these are ways that students can enter third level and higher education through local FET colleges and local ETBs. Fees are nominal. They may be €50 but may not even be that much in some cases. Students can progress into second year and move into a more traditional university for third year and beyond.”
“I am aware of the Deputy's interest in STEM, drug discovery, life sciences, pharmaceuticals and all those related matters. They are also a key priority for me, as is support for STEM overall, as well as being a key strategic priority for the Government, given its increasing criticality to economic growth, to resilience, future skills needs and regional development. I know the Deputy is very close to that in Cork with a number of significant employers in this space. In relation to Cork particularly, the provision of higher education places in STEM is kept under review through workforce planning and higher education institutions. My Department also supports a network of regional skills forums to help employers to address their skills needs. I will be in Cork this week. On Thursday, I will be visiting UCC, among other venues.”
“They now have representative bodies in the different agencies and boards. I am sure they will play their part in shaping the future of Irish veterinary and making a strong contribution to the regions where the colleges are located. Their graduates will be an exciting new, dynamic force within the veterinary sector. I wish all of the students who applied this year every success. I thank SETU and ATU for rising to the challenge.”
“I thank the Deputy. I agree with him about all the benefits that will flow to the regional areas from this. The expansion is being funded through the veterinary places activation programme. That wider programme is backed by €155 million, with €80 million specifically ring-fenced for veterinary education. It is a very important programme. I set a target across government to increase the number of healthcare places, and professional places overall in order to reduce the points pressure on the high points courses like medicine, veterinary and dentistry. Already, we are seeing 1,100 new places across a number of professions coming good on that. In this case, in particular, there are 80 new places for this September across the two new veterinary schools. Even the fact that there are two new veterinary schools in existence is wonderful.”
“In time, it might allow them to develop small animal practice for, dare I say it, city vets and large animal practice for vets in more regional centres of education. Of course, it also makes it much more accessible and available to students from the south east and the midlands, and from the north west for ATU.”
“Absolutely. I look forward to visiting Kildalton, and I am going to arrange to see it myself shortly. This has that best practice combination of academic theory in the college institutions and hands-on farm experience on the practical college farm at Kildalton. I visited the UCD Lyons Farm just outside Celbridge in my constituency a number of times to see the wonderful work it does. This is an essential part of it. What is welcome in these courses is that while the students will, of course, have the same veterinary degree as a veterinary degree awarded from institutions anywhere in the world, there will be a particular opportunity to focus on large animal practice in these facilities at Kildalton and Mountbellew, for SETU and ATU, respectively, because there will be more of that traditional agricultural setting.”