AQW 40687/22-27

Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 16/02/2026
Answered On Date: 24/02/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail any steps her Department has taken to improve ventilation across regional colleges and other providers of further and higher education, since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Answer:

My Department does not hold responsibility for college or higher education estates, as each manages its own operations. Officials have liaised with both sectors and Higher Education institutions have indicated that no additional departmental investment has been made in this area, however its Estates teams continue to uphold all relevant legal and environmental standards.

Further Education colleges have advised that pre and post the Covid-19 pandemic, all sector-wide ventilation and indoor air quality requirements had been implemented in accordance with government and industry guidance.

Moreover, beginning in 2021, a more stringent planned and preventative maintenance regime was introduced across the entire sector estate, fully aligning with industry-standard maintenance specifications and guidance provided by the Chartered Institute of Building Service Engineers.