More than €12.5 million is to be made available to institutes of technology following the reintroduction of the grants scheme for minor capital works at the institutes, the Minister for Education, Ms Hanafin, has announced.
The reintroduction of the scheme, which has been frozen since 2002, is in line with the recommendations of the recent Kelly Report on the funding needs of the third-level sector.
Dublin Institute of Technology will be the biggest benefactor, receiving €2.52 million of the €12.54 million. Cork Institute of Technology, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and Waterford Institute of Technology will each receive more than €1 million, having been allocated sums of between €1.2 million and €1.35 million. A total of 16 institutes will receive funding.
Ms Hanafin said: "I have already indicated that the Government is committed to supporting the national strategic interest by investing in the third-level sector as a key driver of economic and social progress. My announcement is a further immediate step in the process of addressing the infrastructure deficit in the third- level sector".
