Government to progress plan for new technological university in south-east
In Further And The Technological File An South Minister Harris, To Simon Education, Picture Is For A University Application Progress Higher For East
An application for a new technological university (TU) for the south-east will be made by April, Cabinet will be told on Tuesday.
Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris will update the Government on the progress on establishing TUs across the country, in particular, progress on the delivery of one for the south-east.
The south-east is the only region in the State which does not have a university presence, but a detailed project plan was completed in October, and includes proposals for a presence in Carlow and Waterford.
Mr Harris will inform his Cabinet colleagues that an application will be made by the end of April 2021, which would see the university established for the 2021/22 academic year.
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The minister is also set to confirm Munster TU, the merger between Tralee and Cork ITs will be established on January 1 and an application for the Connacht-Ulster Alliance of GMIT, LYIT and IT Sligo will be made in January 2021. Mr Harris will also confirm a €90m TU Transformation Fund will be distributed over the next three years by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to support TU development.
Also at Cabinet, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly will bring forward a memo to Cabinet to sign Ireland up to the pre-purchase of a fifth Covid-19 vaccine. Ireland is signed up through the EU to receive a proportional amount of four vaccines through an advanced purchase scheme.
Mr Donnelly said on Sunday that Ireland "is very much playing our part" in acquiring the vaccines. He said the country would have access to "several million doses" but that his "strong preference" is that uptake of the vaccine was optional.