Ms Cynthia Deane:

There are legacy matters at play here. Our two VECs each had one Youthreach centre with 25 places authorised and approved by the Department, one located in Kilkenny and the other in Carlow. Other ETBs simply have more centres. As well as the two centres under our remit, several community training centres have come under our management following the merger with the training function. We are funded on the basis of our further education and training service plan, and that plan is based on the programmes already approved by the Department and which are continuing. Youthreach and community training services are being reviewed and evaluated by SOLAS, as a result of which the current distribution might change. We are confined in so far as our current position is the one we took forward from our VEC days, namely, two Youthreach centres, each with 25 approved places.