Minister Doherty dismisses fears about Dunboyne College as "sheer ignorance or electioneering"

Minister Regina Doherty today slammed claims that the Department of Education has refused to sanction permanent accommodation for Dunboyne College and said the project was still very much in play.

“I am very pleased to confirm that the permanent build for Dunboyne College of Further Education is still firmly on this Governments Capital Building Programme and was never taken off. I have been in contact with the Department of Education and there is absolutely no change to the status of the project,” she said.

"Any suggestion that this much-needed build has been downgraded in priority is sheer ignorance or pure electioneering.”

Minister Doherty was responding to an angry response by Cllr Nick Killian and Deputy Thomas Byrne to correspondence from the Department of Education to the Louth Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB) which said the building would be considered in a wider context of further education provision.

Minister Doherty said; “While some differences exist between what the Department are planning regarding a site, and what the school has submitted, this is all part of the normal over and back for such projects. It does not signal, as some local politicians have – either in ignorance or mischievously – that the project is being dropped.”

“With regard to progressing this important project, I am organising a meeting with school officials, LMETB and the Department of Education to assist all parties to bring their visions closer together," she said. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Education and Skills said today that the site option proposed by the LMETB will be appraised in a wider context, including taking account of the strategy for the Further Education and Training sector generally and value for money considerations.

He explained that LMETB as patron of Dunboyne College of Further Education, was requested by the Department to identify potential suitable site options for its location.

In response to this request the LMETB has proposed one site option of significant scale and cost.

"The first ever dedicated capital budget for Further Education and Training has been established under Project Ireland 2040. This will see €300m invested in the period up to 2027 in the development of modern, fit-for-purpose facilities nationally and the Dunboyne project will be considered in that context," he said.