Last week a disturbing article appeared in our local newspaper regarding South East Technological University, SETU. The article discusses a conversation that took place at a meeting of Wexford County Council between the now retired chief executive and a local councillor, in which it was alleged that SETU and the Department of higher education are dragging their heels. I am a graduate of what is now South East Technological University. We have a very limiting campus whereby we cannot expand and certainly not into STEM courses. We do have more than 1,100 students on the campus. We very much look forward to a new state-of-the-art campus, which the Minister has heavily endorsed. We also have devolved Departments of environment and agriculture in Wexford. I see the future of education in Wexford as very much in STEM courses when the new campus is brought there.

I very much hope that what is alleged in the article is not true for the families who are contacting me about whether their children will be able to start their third level education in a Wexford campus of SETU. They are looking for timelines; they are not looking for stories that will result in non-delivery. This is the big issue for people. Stories and photo opportunities are all well and good. Headlines for councillors, chief executives, TDs and Ministers are all very good but delivery is what is key. It is paramount that we understand that Wexford had been left behind prior to and until the setting up of SETU. I could not have furthered my education were not for the campus in Wexford of the then Carlow Institute of Technology. I undertook my course at night time. I could not have done it in any other way. As a result I have a law degree. I am very proud of this but there are many parents who envisage not being able to send their children to third level education because of the cost-of-living increases they are experiencing, the exponential cost of accommodation they are experiencing and what they expect to pay for accommodation in Dublin, Galway and Limerick and other university cities. It is paramount to the people of Wexford and the surrounding south-east counties that we get our state-of-the-art campus and that it encompasses STEM courses as well as utilising the Departments that are devolved in Wexford. A huge expansion of Rosslare Europort is ongoing. We have offshore wind development. The campus and what we foresee in education will only complement this. This is what we need to plan for and what we need to see. I ask the Minister whether these allegations are correct and why he is dragging his heels.

I thank the Deputy. I hope she is asking a question to which she knows the answer is that we are not dragging our heels. The commitment we have given to the people of Wexford, to the Deputy and to the people of the south east is real. It is very real because we have invested an awful lot of money in it already. To be crystal clear, it is our intention to develop a state-of-the-art campus in Wexford. As the Deputy knows, we, and specifically SETU, have been working very closely with the local authority to try to secure a permanent home for the Wexford campus. I should pause and make the point the Deputy referenced in passing. There are already approximately 1,000 students studying third level education through SETU, and she was once one of them, in County Wexford. We already have 1,000 students studying in a university in Wexford. They are not in a state-of-the-art campus and this is the problem. There is an ability to do a hell of a lot more if we can give them modern facilities.

The Deputy knows we have identified the preferred site. There had been a lengthy negotiation process that did not reach agreement. Wexford County Council has since progressed the acquisition of a site totalling 48.5 acres by way of compulsory purchase order. The intention is that a proportion of this site will now be used to facilitate a new Wexford campus for SETU, with the remainder of the site being developed by the local authority and the Deputy will have more information on this than I do. I was delighted to announce on 9 November 2023 that the acquisition of the Wexford town site has progressed significantly. What I mean by this is it had issued the notice to treat. My legal advice is that once this notice is issued it marks a significant milestone because it legally obligates the local authority to acquire the property. It also legally obligates the owner to surrender same.

SETU is now engaging with the Higher Education Authority to develop its case on what it wants to develop on the site. The project will be progressed through the technological sector strategic projects fund framework. That is how we intend to fund the development on the site. I spoke with the president of SETU, Professor Veronica Campbell, as recently as yesterday. I am very confident following the conversation that she, her team and the governing authority have a very clear vision for the site. It is a vision that reflects on the strengths of the region and builds on links with employers in the region. It is not for me to speak for the autonomous institution but a number of the areas referenced by the Deputy around playing to Wexford's geographic strength make an awful lot of sense. Offshore wind is an obvious area of great potential.

I am absolutely confident that Professor Campbell, SETU and the Department not only are not dragging our heels on this but are enthusiastic proponents of having a clear plan as to what can go on the site. Of course it goes without saying, but I best say it for the record, the president of the university does have to follow the various approval processes and the public spending code. She does obviously need to seek governing authority approval. Once that happens, it will feed into the overall master plan.

I have heard a little bit of misinformation too and let me correct it. It was not from the Deputy. It was a little bit of misinformation around SETU holding up the master plan. That is not true. Wexford County Council should progress as it intends to do with its master plan. I am absolutely confident that the work SETU is undertaking will complement it and fit perfectly within it. I understand it intends to put the draft master plan out to consultation in June with responses due back by October.

I thank the Minister. I am glad to hear him reaffirming the endorsement of a new campus for Wexford and the people of Wexford will be very glad to hear it. These allegations made at a public meeting of the county council are not helpful. The article also states that while the CPO process was invoked in January, it was completed in March. Intelligent people will know this was not the case. The notice to treat was served but the process is anything but complete. I do believe that what people want is a timeline. I ask the Minister to ensure the president of SETU engages with the county council so that we do not have the retired chief executive making allegations that it is holding it up. This is exactly what the article says, which is exactly what was said at the meeting. It is the same for county councillors trying to make political capital. People are very concerned about this and they want a timeline more than anything so that their children will be afforded the opportunity of a third level education. For some this means in Wexford and Wexford only.

I am a firm believer that having access to a university in your county and community makes a real difference.

I met a number of the students at the Wexford campus. Similarly to the Deputy, they told me that they could not have accessed third level education were it not for the provision of a campus in Wexford. We must now ask what more we can do in Wexford and what the benefits would be in terms of foreign direct investment, job creation and playing into the strengths of the south east, complementing the work in Waterford and at the Waterford Crystal site. I see Deputy Shanahan sitting beside Deputy Murphy.

I would be happy to go to Wexford again and meet all of the stakeholders. The Government and the president of SETU are clear that a state-of-the-art Wexford campus is key – it is in SETU’s published strategic plan, which has been passed by the governing authority – but everyone needs to understand that the president has a process that she must follow, and she is correct in how she is following it. We must follow the various approval processes as well. This does not in any way, shape or form mean that SETU does not intend to slot this into the master plan. It does, and I look forward to that plan going out for public consultation in June and getting the feedback in October. I look forward to visiting Wexford and having engagement on this shortly.