A £14 million development in applied chemistry and biotechnology at Dublin City University (DCU) will create an additional 800 student places, the Minister for Education has announced.
The new development will also lead to the employment of more research scientists and enable DCU to provide advanced technical services to industry which are currently bought overseas, the president of the college, Dr Danny O'Hare, said.
Ms Breathnach said the facilities would create 350 places in computer science and related sciences, 200 in biotechnology and 250 in business, commerce and languages. An additional 14,200 third level places have become available to young people in the past three years.
Finance for the development at DCU has come from EU structural funds (£6 million), private fund raising by the college (£4 million) and matching Government funds. It is the biggest project so far announced under the Government's investment package which requires the universities to raise 50 per cent of project costs from private donors.
Dr O'Hare paid tribute to the DCU Trust, which raised £20 million from private donors in the past five years.
