Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

I do not want to compare County Clare with other counties that have sub-offices. That is not what I want to do. However, I am astonished to learn that many other counties will have sub-offices. When one considers the geographical size of County Clare, one realises that Loop Head, for example, is 80 or 90 miles from Limerick. That long distance can be compared to the distances involved in some of the places where sub-offices have been established. I will not name any of them. While I am glad that the Ennis office will be maintained in the short term, I hope we can make a case for maintaining it in the long term. County Clare VEC owns its state-of-the-art two-storey office building which was refurbished a few years ago. The office is ideally located and has car parking facilities. As I said, the VEC provides a number of other services also. Perhaps more optimal use could be made of the building to provide more educational services. Given that the Ennis office will be retained on a short-term basis, perhaps the Department of Education and Skills might consider retaining it as a sub-office on a long-term basis. I am delighted the Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, is here. He is lucky enough because there will be a sub-office in Nenagh.

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