Mr. Ted Owens:

The students in Macroom were deemed ineligible not so much because they were not from the cohort of socially disadvantaged young people the programme sought to reach but because it was found in the investigation that the documentary evidence needed to justify their presence was not available. In some cases dates of birth and proofs of nationality were missing. Efforts were made to gather that information but the students were eventually let go. One student was retained for a considerably longer period. This student was from one of the EU accession states and the VEC was trying to investigate his eligibility. All I can say is that Cork ETB now has strict controls over enrolment policy to ensure that only bona fide students who can satisfy the requirements are enrolled on programmes.