Dáil debates

Thursday, 7 April 2011

4:00 pm

Photo of Dominic HanniganDominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, on his appointment and wish him well in his new role. We previously served together in the Seanad.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss the issue of post-leaving certificate courses, or PLCs as they are also known. Such courses were introduced in 1985 and have been a tremendous success, with hundreds of thousands of students throughout the country attending them. In counties Louth and Meath they have been of great assistance is allowing people to obtain additional qualifications in child care, community care, telecommunications, etc. I have taken a keen interest in the PLCs offered in my locality at the Dunboyne College of Further Education. I have attended many of the college's graduation ceremonies and I will be attending the next one in early May. I am always struck by the level of enthusiasm and hope among the students at such ceremonies.

Dunboyne College of Further Education was established a number of years ago as part of St. Peter's community college, which is the local secondary school. The numbers attending the college have increased significantly, with a current enrolment of 380 students. However, the maximum number of students in respect of which the college receives funding - that is, the cap - is only 233. If effect, therefore, it is educating almost 150 students without receiving any money at all in respect of them.

I raised this matter when I was a Member of the Upper House and the then Minister lifted the cap. However, we are still at the point where the cap which applies in County Meath is below the national average. As a result, an increase must be forthcoming. The benefits of introducing such an increase will be clear to people who attend colleges such as that to which I refer. More people would certainly attend such institutions if further places were available. The agreed programme for Government contains a commitment to increase the number of places available in education and, in such circumstances, I ask the Minister of State to increase the cap at Dunboyne.

I also wish to refer to the issue of accommodation at the Dunboyne College of Further Education. The college rents premises in the local industrial estate. It has managed to secure a site nearby, however, which is adjacent to the new Dunboyne rail station and the local bus stop and which would accommodate a new campus. I understand the site has been zoned and that work can proceed. I have also been told that officials in the Minister's Department are well aware of the proposal. I ask the Minister to provide us with the view of the Department on the development of the site. Has the Minister investigated the potential development of the site as a campus? If so, does he have a timescale for when the site might be developed?

I appreciate the Minister's time on this matter.

Photo of Ciarán CannonCiarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Hannigan for raising this issue and for his words of congratulations. I reciprocate by congratulating him on his election to Dáil Éireann. I know how much it means to him.

Dunboyne College of Further Education is managed through St. Peter's College, Dunboyne by County Meath VEC to provide courses under my Department's post-leaving certificate programme. The PLC programme is a self-contained whole-time learning experience designed to provide successful participants with specific vocational skills to enhance their prospects of securing lasting, full-time employment or to progress to other studies. It caters for those who have completed senior cycle education and require further vocational education and training as well as adults who may not have completed the senior cycle but who are returning to education and who have skills and competencies which enable them to undertake the courses.

There are almost 31,700 approved PLC places nationwide enabling almost 38,700 learners to participate in PLC courses. This is a commendable achievement by VECs and other PLC providers and I hope this can be maintained. For each approved place, my Department provides a staffing allocation and non-pay capitation. The majority of these places are provided by VECs in recognised VEC schools and stand-alone PLC colleges, but also in voluntary secondary schools and community and comprehensive schools across the country. There are almost 200 approved PLC centres nationwide. Places are allocated to VECs and other providers on an annual basis following an application process, and VECs are responsible for the further allocation of those places to schools and colleges under their aegis. Separately, following an annual application process, my Department approves PLC courses to be delivered. PLC courses are generally of one or two years duration and are at levels 5 and 6 on the national framework of qualifications.

The number of PLC places allocated to County Meath VEC has more than doubled in the past five years, from 136 in the 2004-05 academic year to 306 for the current academic year 2010-11. The VEC delivers PLC courses in three approved PLC centres: Dunboyne College of Further Education; St. Oliver's Post-Primary School, Oldcastle, and Beaufort College, Navan. There is also one other approved PLC provider in County Meath: Boyne Community School, Trim, which has an allocation of 22 places. This means there are almost 330 PLC places in County Meath. Enrolment data for the 2010-11 academic year provided by schools to my Department, indicates that total PLC enrolment in County Meath VEC is 470 and that there is a total of 380 PLC learners enrolled in Dunboyne College of Further Education.

On the development of Dunboyne College of Further Education specifically, I must inform the Deputy that my Department has no record of receiving an application for funding for capital works in respect of the college.

All schools are eligible to submit an application for major capital funding to my Department. Any application received will be assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects and in the context of my Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme. The published prioritisation criteria were formulated following consultation with the education partners. There are four band ratings under these criteria, each of which describes the extent of accommodation required and the urgency attaching to it. Band 1 is the highest priority rating and Band 4 is the lowest.

On PLC provision nationally, the number of approved PLC places is set at its current level of 31,688 because there is a continuing requirement to plan and control numbers and to manage expenditure within the context of overall educational policy and provision.

The programme for Government contains a commitment that the Government will create an additional 60,000 places across a range of education and employment programmes for the unemployed. Within this total an additional 30,000 training places will be delivered across the education and training system. My Department will work with education and training providers to deliver these additional places over the coming period.