Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In the first instance, the Minister, Deputy Quinn, and I made a commitment at the outset, when the pupil-teacher ratio changes were first announced, that we would actively engage and consult colleges of further education and VECs to allow for that transitionary period to occur before September of next year and for the system to respond as best it could, thereby suggesting to us the number of alleviation posts that might be required within each VEC to minimise the impact of this necessary budgetary cut. As I made clear in my response, the City of Dublin VEC has been awarded ten additional teaching posts and, as every VEC does, it has the autonomy and independence in deciding how those posts are allocated. I very much acknowledge the excellent work being done by Ballyfermot College of Further Education.

One of the reasons we are currently reforming our further education and training system and creating a new further education and training authority, SOLAS, is that early on in both our Ministries we identified a significant duplication and, at times, a fragmentation occurring between the further education and training sectors. We do not want to see a situation emerging where this would begin to occur between the further and higher education systems. Those legacy courses that are provided for in the college, to which the Deputy referred, are exactly that - a legacy. It would not be our intention to enhance or allow for third level provision within the further education sector. In the coming years, the higher education sector will undergo significant reforms and restructuring, including an enhanced collaboration in particular regions between institutes of technology and universities.

The higher education sector will undergo significant reforms and restructuring over the next several years, including enhanced collaboration between institutes of technology and universities in particular regions. We believe this will be the model for delivery of third level education in future.

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