Four Irish universities to receive major funding investment
The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris has announced the approval of €100 million for higher education universities.
Four universities in Ireland will be receiving funds from the investment. Each of the four successful projects will be given €25 million through the co-funded Higher Education Strategic Infrastructure Fund Round two (HESIF II).
There has been an ongoing investment in the higher education sector through Project Ireland 2040, the government’s strategy to ‘make Ireland better for all of its people’.
The funding from the investment will be going towards creating high quality higher education infrastructure, as well as providing a strategic impact for the country’s future skills needs.
The projects that are receiving this funding are University College Cork’s redevelopment of the Kane Science Building, Trinity College Dublin’s South Renewal Project, University College Dublin ‘s Phase III of the O’Brien Centre for Science, and the Future UL Education (FULE) for University of Limerick.
When making a statement concerning the news today, Simon Harris explained, “Today we continue our significant investment into higher education. Over the course of the last two and a half years, capital funding for higher education has been provided in the amount of €430 million”.
“Today we take another step forward with a €100 million investment into four institutions and reaffirming our commitment to the growth and expansion of our higher education sector. The co-funded approach in this fund maximises the potential for exchequer funding to attract other sources of capital investment in the sector”.
Minister Harris announces approval for €100 million investment under Project Ireland 2040 for 4 higher education universities.https://t.co/6AJo4ksGQz pic.twitter.com/W8f3yzCSZJ
— Department of Further and Higher Education (@DeptofFHed) April 19, 2023
He continued, “Alongside this government investment, I am pleased to note that Non-Exchequer investment is a major element of HESIF II. This collaborative approach recognises the importance of a co-funded approach in the delivery of infrastructure in the sector”.
“These projects will help support the creation of approximately 21,000 square metres of new build and over 51,000 metres of reimagined and refurbished space They will also assist the creation of enhanced capacity to support over 8,500 whole time equivalent student places in higher education institutions, across STEM, Social Sciences, Science and multi-disciplinary areas”.
The Minister went on to thank the Higher Education Authority for their work to make this programme possible.
