Building projects in four third-level institutions to be delivered under the Government’s public-private partnership plan will create hundreds of construction jobs, Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe has said. He was speaking today (Tuesday) in the University of Limerick at the market launch of the first bundle of third-level educational facilities to be procured as a PPP. The Market Day launch event is part of the Government’s €270 million Third Level Institutions PPP Programme which will see various building projects for Third Level Institutions completed over a 25 year period. In his keynote address to launch the open day for interested corsortia, Minister O’Keeffe said: “We’ve prioritised our programme of investment in modernising and updating educational infrastructure at all levels.” He said the projects represent major building projects in four higher education institutions. “The aerial photographs and outline planning permission details for this bundle are a clear indication of the size of the investment. “The new facilities will allow the institutions to cater for the expanding needs of their campus populations,” he added. The projects are a library and information centre in Limerick Institute of Technology; phase two of a library project in the University of Limerick; a library extension in Cork Institute of Technology; and a digital media teaching building, consolidated workshops and multi-purpose hall in Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Dublin. “The project will create hundreds of much-needed direct construction jobs and I’m anxious to ensure that construction can start as early as possible next year. |
