Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

With regard to Macroom and Mallow and those courses specifically, I will check with SOLAS and Department regarding the capacity to do more this year. Generally, when it comes to further education and training we tend to be in the space of being demand led, and where there is a local demand we try to provide those additional places at the further education and training levels. I will revert to Deputy Moynihan on that. If there is a willingness and a desire to do more locally, then I am very happy to work with the Deputy to deliver on that. I imagine that we could certainly do that.

The second part of the Deputy's question is, truthfully, trickier. We have dealt with it a couple of times in the House this evening. It was around the pathways between further education and training and higher education. In the interests of time I will just outline briefly that this is an issue we want to focus on. I am not satisfied that there are enough reserved places in higher education for people who have come through the further education route through pre-nursing.

On grade inflation, I pay tribute to my colleague the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley. The scheme the Minister has devised this year, which was outlined last week to leaving certificate students, will effectively, for want of a better phrase, take into account the level of grade inflation from last year to this year, and will provide that level playing pitch between this year's leaving certificate students and last year's students. I am aware that this was a concern many of them had.

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