New state-of-the-art facility for CIT will proceed to tender immediately

The announcement came earlier today as Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris confirmed the achievement of a key milestone on a programme to deliver 11 new higher education buildings, which will facilitate some 8,000 additional student enrolments.

In Munster, these include the Learning Resource Centre at CIT and a new STEM & Agri-Tech Building in IT Tralee.

Both of these projects, along with four others for Dublin and Athlone, will now go to tender.

The second bundle of five projects is expected to go to tender in Q1 2021.

The new facility at CIT will provide the capacity to expand CIT’s portfolio of programmes and services in business and STEM disciplines, as well as providing enhanced options for student support, industry engagement, entrepreneurship, and research and innovation. 

It will also provide new options for hosting events and conferences.

The building will be highly efficient from an energy management perspective and will meet, or exceed, all relevant standards in this regard.

Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central, Colm Burke has welcomed the announcement to develop a Learning Resource Centre in Cork Institute of Technology.

"With the commencement of the Munster Technology University in January 2021, this Learning Resource Centre in CIT along with the development of a new STEM & Agri-Tech Building in IT Tralee, is a clear commitment on the part of the Government to the ongoing progress of third level education, both in Cork and Munster as a whole," he said.

"In these difficult times, the importance of education is clear. 

"We must support our young people to achieve their goals academically.

"We are seeking to equip this generation for the jobs of the future," he continued. 

In welcoming the announcement, Dr Barry O’Connor, CIT President, said: 

"Growing and embedding MTU engagement and concomitant research enabling leadership in local industry and enterprise, including community, social and cultural enterprise, will be given an even greater focus. 

"Greater bandwidth, critical mass, and geographical spread, will allow MTU to service the needs of and, reciprocally, be supported by, SMEs and large corporates alike. 

"The development of the Learning Resource Centre will be crucial to our ability to succeed in this context."

The 11 projects are being delivered under Project Ireland 2040.

Minister Harris said today marks a "key milestone" in what is a "very ambitious programme of investment in the higher education sector". 

"Such investment has never been more important. 

"The higher education sector, and within that our new Technological Universities and our Institutes of Technology, have an essential role to play in driving recovery across Ireland’s regions and in preparing for the opportunities and challenges of a changing economy," he said.