Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to discuss the proposed closure in June 2012 of the three private agricultural colleges at Mountbellew in County Galway, Gurteen in County Tipperary and Pallaskenry in County Limerick, particularly given that more than one third of all agriculture students now attend private colleges; to ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is aware of the huge increase in the numbers attending agricultural colleges; to ask if it is acknowledged that the ambitious targets set out for the agriculture industry by 2020 cannot be achieved without a conveyer belt of trained young farmers coming on stream every year; and to state in the House that if the Mountbellew college is closed, there will be no agricultural college in the west of Ireland, which is a matter of grave concern to everybody in the region.

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