GMIT welcomes Government investment in education

Thursday, September 20, 2018 Press Office
Press Release

€2M for GMIT Mayo and up to €1M devolved grant for further infrastructural works

Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) warmly welcomes the announcement of €2M capital funding for GMIT Mayo under the Government’s recently unveiled investment in education package as part of Project Ireland 2040.

This latest funding is being allocated under the HEI Strategic Infrastructure Fund and complements the €25M allocation announced earlier this year for GMIT’s new strategically important STEM building under the Higher Education PPP programme which is currently at design stage.

Dr Michael Hannon, Deputising for the President, says these capital projects will help address current infrastructure deficits and cater for the projected 20% increase in the Higher Education student population between now and 2029.”

The overall vision for Higher Education, articulated in Project Ireland 2040, is for a high quality higher education infrastructure equipped to cater to a significantly expanded student body, supporting innovative and flexible approaches to teaching and learning, including online provision, that will be a driver to a more balanced population and employment growth across Ireland’s regions, with a sharp focus on developing and sustaining the skills and research based necessary to underpin Ireland’s competitiveness.

“This vision is echoed in GMIT’s Strategic Plan”, adds Dr Hannon.

“The funding of €2M for Castlebar, fulfils one of the recommendations of the HEA Working Group Report focused on Developing a Sustainable Plan for the Mayo campus.

Under the investment package for education, the Government also announced a Devolved Grant for minor works and equipment for all Institutes of Technology, totalling €10m. According to Dr Hannon, GMIT expects to get up to €1M from this allocation, which will go toward enhancing infrastructure in all GMIT campuses

These allocations are in addition to the €250,000 allocated in the past year to GMIT by SOLAS and the HEA for apprenticeship equipment and capital works for laboratories. This funding recognizes GMIT’s long established expertise in the delivery of high quality apprenticeship courses.

In welcoming these multiple announcements Dr Hannon says, this funding will further improve GMIT’s infrastructure, helping us to deliver a quality student experience in all our five campuses.

David Lee, Head of Buildings & Estates, GMIT, welcomed the latest tranche of funding, saying: “The creation of an €86m HEI strategic infrastructure fund, complementing the strategic projects which are being delivered across the Institute of technology sector through the Higher Education PPP programme, is a very welcome development.”

"The funding allocated to GMIT for its Mayo campus will facilitate the undertaking of essential upgrade work to the building fabric of the Mayo campus, which will demonstrate  to  students, staff and stakeholders in Mayo and the region that GMIT, the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Education and Skills along with Ministers Bruton and Mitchell O’Connor are committed to the Mayo campus to enable the delivery of quality third level education in the region.”

 

ENDS
Issued by Regina Daly, GMIT Communications Officer
www.gmit.ie/news
Tel 091 742826/ 087-9618355 (m) email: regina.daly@gmit.ie