Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Hannigan for raising this issue and for his words of congratulations. I reciprocate by congratulating him on his election to Dáil Éireann. I know how much it means to him.

Dunboyne College of Further Education is managed through St. Peter's College, Dunboyne by County Meath VEC to provide courses under my Department's post-leaving certificate programme. The PLC programme is a self-contained whole-time learning experience designed to provide successful participants with specific vocational skills to enhance their prospects of securing lasting, full-time employment or to progress to other studies. It caters for those who have completed senior cycle education and require further vocational education and training as well as adults who may not have completed the senior cycle but who are returning to education and who have skills and competencies which enable them to undertake the courses.

There are almost 31,700 approved PLC places nationwide enabling almost 38,700 learners to participate in PLC courses. This is a commendable achievement by VECs and other PLC providers and I hope this can be maintained. For each approved place, my Department provides a staffing allocation and non-pay capitation. The majority of these places are provided by VECs in recognised VEC schools and stand-alone PLC colleges, but also in voluntary secondary schools and community and comprehensive schools across the country. There are almost 200 approved PLC centres nationwide. Places are allocated to VECs and other providers on an annual basis following an application process, and VECs are responsible for the further allocation of those places to schools and colleges under their aegis. Separately, following an annual application process, my Department approves PLC courses to be delivered. PLC courses are generally of one or two years duration and are at levels 5 and 6 on the national framework of qualifications.

The number of PLC places allocated to County Meath VEC has more than doubled in the past five years, from 136 in the 2004-05 academic year to 306 for the current academic year 2010-11. The VEC delivers PLC courses in three approved PLC centres: Dunboyne College of Further Education; St. Oliver's Post-Primary School, Oldcastle, and Beaufort College, Navan. There is also one other approved PLC provider in County Meath: Boyne Community School, Trim, which has an allocation of 22 places. This means there are almost 330 PLC places in County Meath. Enrolment data for the 2010-11 academic year provided by schools to my Department, indicates that total PLC enrolment in County Meath VEC is 470 and that there is a total of 380 PLC learners enrolled in Dunboyne College of Further Education.

On the development of Dunboyne College of Further Education specifically, I must inform the Deputy that my Department has no record of receiving an application for funding for capital works in respect of the college.

All schools are eligible to submit an application for major capital funding to my Department. Any application received will be assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects and in the context of my Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme. The published prioritisation criteria were formulated following consultation with the education partners. There are four band ratings under these criteria, each of which describes the extent of accommodation required and the urgency attaching to it. Band 1 is the highest priority rating and Band 4 is the lowest.

On PLC provision nationally, the number of approved PLC places is set at its current level of 31,688 because there is a continuing requirement to plan and control numbers and to manage expenditure within the context of overall educational policy and provision.

The programme for Government contains a commitment that the Government will create an additional 60,000 places across a range of education and employment programmes for the unemployed. Within this total an additional 30,000 training places will be delivered across the education and training system. My Department will work with education and training providers to deliver these additional places over the coming period.

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