Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Today the Cabinet passed the draft SOLAS legislation and it will be circulated. With the agreement of the whips I hope to take it soon. As I have stated previously, SOLAS will become for the further education sector what the Higher Education Authority is for higher education. The type of statistical information about which the Deputy has asked and which is not available must become available so we can tailor courses to meet the increasing demand from people who are not making their way into further and higher education through the qualifications framework and the traditional post-primary school route of the CAO and points system. All of the information I have received indicates the split between those going through the CAO and points system and others will further equalise to the point where it could be 50:50 in years to come. We must have this information to ensure the stepping stone courses, to which the Deputy referred, which enable somebody to get into a "mainstream" university or institution of technology course must be properly provided, and to do this we need data to understand the nature of demand and its location. As I see it, SOLAS will do this.

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