PRESS RELEASES

CLLR. MARY ROCHE WELCOMES SETU ANNOUNCEMENT BUT SAYS IT HAS ARRIVED WAY PAST THE TIME

MONDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2024

Councillor Mary Roche, the Social Democrats candidate for the Waterford constituency in the forthcoming General Election and formerly a member of the Governing Body of WIT, has welcomed the announcement of a new Veterinary Medicine course for the Waterford campus of SETU, but insists that it is way past time for government investment in third-level education in Waterford.

"It's a fantastic achiievement for the college and it is testament to the talent and ambition of the faculty," she said. "However, it's the first real investment that we have seen in almost 20 years in the Cork Road campus. The first since the Engineering Building groundworks were completed and then stopped in the wake of the economic crisis in 2008. We need to see more courses introduced in Waterford, to offer our young people the careers they desire, and to keep them here in Waterford. Currently, 64% of our young people leave Waterford and the South East for their higher education.

The real benefit to the region, the real way to address the brain drain and to change the fortunes of this region economically and educationally, is for the development of new courses. New courses that bring new teaching and learning buildings, requiring new resources and providing life choices for our young people."

Cllr. Roche added: "There is significant capital investment alongside this announcement with €50m pledged between ATU (Sligo and Letterkenny) and SETU. I hope that money will see the development of significant and necessary buildings, now in discussion between SETU and the Department of Higher and Further Education. I would like to see more details on that.

It is way past time for us to see new buildings and new courses on the so-called Waterford campus," she continued. "WIT was artificially held back for the past 20 years, we now need to see some payback for Waterford in this TU arrangement."

"Two things are true in this scenario - it is a great day for the college, a huge development and a huge step forward; but it is also true that the government has been neglectful of third level education in Waterford for nigh-on two decades and they have a lot of ground to make up", she said.