Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome the Minister's work on qualifications for the child care sector. I wish to raise a slightly different aspect, however. In my constituency, the Bray Institute of Further Education already offers a level 5 course in childhood care and education and a level 6 course in early childhood and education. BIFE is really leading the way in this regard, but the difficulty is capacity. More people are applying for these courses than there are places.

This week, the new education and training boards were established to replace VECs. Surely there is a degree of overlap in the work the Minister needs to do and what the Department of Education and Skills needs to do to ensure there is capacity for people who, as Deputy Ó Ríordáin correctly says, want to improve their skills and obtain these qualifications.

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