Speech of the Taoiseach, Official opening of the CONNECT Building, Blanchardstown Campus, TU Dublin

Check Against Delivery

Good morning everyone. It’s a privilege to be here to open the CONNECT Building.

Education is all about making connections. Connecting students with new ideas, with each other, with the wider world.

This building will help our educators develop those connections. It will enhance the student experience. And it will help open the education offered here to a greater number from varied backgrounds.

Education is about opening minds. It means creating a learning environment where students and staff all learn from each other. And that requires building the right learning environment, it means having somewhere where educators can listen, learn and lead.

Today’s event symbolises the ambition and vision of Technological University Dublin, it also reinforces the Government’s determination to help you achieve your objectives.

TU Dublin is an exciting new departure in Irish Higher Education. As Ireland’s first Technological University, you are uniquely placed to serve the whole of Dublin and the surrounding areas.

And hopefully MTU and TU South East will follow in your steps later this year.

One of the best ways of preparing for the future is by building on the past, and you build on the rich history of DIT, IT Blanchardstown and IT Tallaght.

Here on the Blanchardstown campus the student body is becoming increasingly diverse, increasingly international. It is growing all the time.

This building will help you meet your students’ needs.

Your ambitions are world-class, so you deserve world class buildings.

Today sends a strong message that the Government will continue to invest in our technological universities. We share your vision of higher education and we will help you meet your ambitions.

Today Ireland is nearing full employment. We have never had so many people at work, in education, or taking on apprenticeships.

I believe that education is the foundation for a thriving and productive society. So it is right that access to higher education should depend on ability, initiative, work ethic, and potential. Not on wealth or background or any other factor.

Education is the single best route to a better life. Making higher education accessible to all is the best way of helping people reach their potential.

As a Government we are working to build a society in which nobody feels left out – men and women, young and old, workers, students and self-employed, rich, poor, people with disabilities, LGBTQ, the new Irish. One Ireland in which there are equal opportunities for all and a second chance for those who need one.

Our technological universities will help us achieve that vision. You provide the widest possible access and progression pathways for all different types of students: old and young, those on-site or learning virtually, full-time students and part-time students.

Already, there are more people from non-traditional backgrounds attending higher education than ever before and I want that to increase.

TU Dublin, is currently the only university in Ireland offering programmes from Level 6 to Level 10, from apprenticeships to doctorates.

This is something that other institutions might look to emulate.

Through Project Ireland 2040 we will invest €2.2 billion in educational infrastructure over the next ten years, including investment in TU Dublin.

We are already planning for the next phase of campus development. As you know, progress is being made on a new 4,000m2 Teaching Building on this campus, which will cater for 500 additional students and staff.

Construction is also advancing on two major buildings on the new Grangegorman campus, which will cater for 10,000 students from 2020.

Two new building projects are also being developed on the Tallaght campus.

These investments will enhance your capacity to compete on an international stage, to meet fundamental skills needs, and to provide a first class experience for students and staff.

The creation of technological universities is a recognition and validation of the quality of the technological education provided in Ireland over many decades. It is also a statement about our ambitions for the future.

I believe, with the right vision, with the right investment, and with the right leadership we can offer a more accessible education to all.

We can incentivise lifelong learning, innovation and research and provide opportunities for a diverse cohort of learners for many years to come.

That is something that is worth celebrating. Today’s event is an important step on that journey. Congratulations!

Thank you.