Progress on Mayo College of Further Education campus project
Plans for a multi-million-euro investment in the construction of a state-of-the-art Mayo College of Further Education on the site of the Military Barracks in Castlebar is progressing.
The Minister for Higher Education, Simon Harris, has confirmed to local TD Alan Dillon that Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board (MSLETB) has been working very closely with government agency SOLAS to develop the next step for Castlebar under the college of the future major projects fund.
He elaborated: "The development of this robust application document is fundamental to moving into the next stage of requirements under the infrastructure guidelines.
"I am really pleased to confirm the preliminary business case by MSLETB was submitted to SOLAS in advance of the deadline on January 12.
"The board had until then to get it in and I am aware it was working extremely hard on that. These business cases and documents will now begin to be evaluated under the various criteria one would expect when it comes to the infrastructure guidelines. We will be engaging directly with MSLETB once that evaluation process is completed.
"Parallel to the development of the business case, MSLETB is also working to identify its preferred site for the proposal. Much work has gone into this.
"Officials from my department and SOLAS have met with the MSLETB and representatives of Mayo County Council to progress this and SOLAS and the department now just await the outcome of this site identification process.
"It is good news. The next stage with the documents and the robust case is now over and good work is being done with the local authority, the ETB, my department and SOLAS on site selection. I expect both of these to move ahead in parallel in the months ahead."
In response, Deputy Dillon said: "It is certainly a very exciting time for both further and higher education in Mayo with the new college campus.
"This will build on the current links we have in the newly-established ATU and develop a clear pathway for students between further education training and higher education.
"It is important to strengthen those links. I compliment the minister on the announcement before Christmas of more than €1 million being invested in the ATU with the establishment of a new apprenticeship programme for electricians. It is really important.
"We are seeing significant steps in the investment in both apprenticeships, further education and higher education. I compliment the Minister on his significant contribution to this project and his recent visits to Castlebar to see the current Mayo College of Further Education and Training, which is in a state of capital investment.
"It is important I emphasise how critical it is we have speed of delivery. I advocate a special project delivery unit within SOLAS to manage these capital projects as Castlebar is one of 12 projects. It is good to hear the preliminary business case has been provided, but people will want to see progress in the months ahead."
Minister Harris replied: "I assure Deputy Dillon that when it comes to speed of delivery that we very much are not intending to delay this by any manner or means.
“As a counterpoint to that, these are big projects.
"This is a massive transformation. We have gone from just about having an emergency fund to fix a leaky roof in a college of further education to having hundreds of millions of euro to spend on capital. We now have somebody in SOLAS leading out on these projects. Avril Behan is a very eminent quantity surveyor leading the way.
"We will evaluate the cases that have come in and we will work with MSLETB and the local authority in Mayo to finalise site selection as well."