Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Excuse my ignorance on this as I am just doing this for the evening. If my understanding is correct, heretofore, even though the parents of children who attended the school had the vote regarding who the representative was, parents in a school down in Galway could have voted to put Robert Troy on the VEC board even he has no children within that jurisdiction. Under the new legislation, while the representative will be appointed by a national body, that body must appoint a parent who has a child attending a school within the jurisdiction of the new board.

Where does the national body pick the parent from? It makes clear sense that someone sitting on a board should have an interest and be a stakeholder by virtue of his or her child attending one of the colleges or further education centres. Where does the national association pick the parent from? Is it a lucky dip or is there a mechanism for interested parties because the person who has to serve on the board must have an interest in doing so? There is no point in appointing someone to a board if he or she has no interest in being on it so we want to get someone who is interested in and committed to developing the educational facilities within the jurisdiction. Could the Minister of State enlighten me in that regard?

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