Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy once again for outlining the case for the sub-office. I point out again that Clare and Limerick are not unique in having an arrangement in place where there is one headquarters and no sub-office as there are six other entities across the VEC structure in a similar situation. The decision not to have a sub-office in each of these seven locations was driven by the fact of the redeployment distance of 45 km. I note the three existing VEC headquarters in the Clare-Limerick region were all within 45 km of one another, so staff redeployment was not going to be an issue. This was the main driving force behind the decision not to retain a sub-office in Ennis.

Deputy Breen is correct to point out that the staff in Ennis and in every other VEC headquarters across the country are doing excellent work in serving the needs of the people they encounter on a daily basis. I have every confidence this work will be able to continue throughout the new locations. From the initial two meetings of the SOLAS implementation group, which is overseeing the merging of further education and training and we hope, will turn a significant new chapter in Irish education towards the end of next year when SOLAS finally becomes live, I am sure the significant information and communications technologies that will be made available across the structure of SOLAS will allow this excellent work to continue and the service that is already provided to be continued.

On a day-to-day basis, I foresee the main interaction between the general public and the VEC structure happening through the locations of the VECs themselves - through their schools and further education and community training centres - as well as through NEES, the national employment and entitlements service, which will be the first port of call for people wanting to avail of further education and training. I do not believe the lack of a sub-office in Ennis will detract from the service that will be available to people in County Clare. I have every confidence in the current staff at Ennis and their soon to be merged colleagues in the area of Limerick, who will continue to provide an excellent service for the people they serve.

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