Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank both of our guests for their presentations. Many of the matters to which I wish to refer in the context of IT skills and so forth have been dealt with. As Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill noted, agriculture has suddenly become popular and sexy again. Huge numbers of young people are trying to gain entry to agricultural colleges and I understand there was a deficiency of approximately 300 places this year. How many of the young people to whom I refer took up the option of pursuing the course on the green certificate online when they could not obtain entry to one of the colleges?

On knowledge transfers and matters of that nature, how is Teagasc dealing with people with learning difficulties? I refer to those with Asperger's syndrome, dyslexia and other conditions. How does Teagasc assist these individuals who can experience difficulties in completing forms required by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine? Is there a programme in place to deal with them?