Dáil debates
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Adjournment Debate
Vocational Education Committees
9:00 pm
Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Following the Minister's announcement last week of the merger of the vocational education committees of Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim, I ask him to consider locating the newly created organisation's headquarters in the town of Ballina in Mayo. The announcement of the restructuring of the country's VECs has been expected for some time. The educational needs of schoolchildren and adult learners in all three counties will be best served by establishing a completely new headquarters. I call on the Minister to ensure that it is located in Ballina where the VEC already has a strong base.
The new VEC will serve a huge geographical area. Ballina is the natural choice. It is the most central large town because it is as accessible to Ballinrobe to Ballinamore or Ballinode. The transition from three organisations to one will involve a considerable challenge for the new partners but the overriding concern must be the educational needs of students. The transition must be swift and smooth. The first challenge will be to quickly assemble a team that has the skills and experience to deal with such a large area with many diverse educational needs.
Mayo VEC, which is the biggest of the three VECs, has 750 teachers and administrative staff compared to Sligo which has 170 and Leitrim which has 110. Therefore, Mayo VEC has proven itself capable of operating a quality education and training service with great success to a vast county that caters for people of all ages, from 12 year olds entering secondary school for the first time to doctorate students through its close relationship with GMIT in Castlebar and the Institute's governing body to which it appoints a member.
It offers a wide variety of opportunities for educational attachments to people including post-leaving certificate courses, vocational training and opportunities, Youthreach and back to education initiatives, to name but a few. It also offers programmes aimed at helping the unemployed, marginalised and underprivileged and those whose early experience of education was not very good. Some 2,500 day pupils and 4,500 adults attend the eight Mayo VEC centres of learning throughout the county.
The logistics involved in dealing effectively with this merger are enormous and if it is poorly managed the excellent level of service to which we are accustomed will suffer. With its broad geographical and educational reach, in combination with the experience and dedication of its staff, its existing infrastructure and organisational systems which have already been tried and tested, Mayo VEC is well capable of taking the lead in the transition and with the new headquarters operating from Ballina will quickly overcome the challenges.
Deputies:
I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairà Quinn. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I welcome this opportunity to outline the decision taken by the Government to revise the configuration of VECs and to set out the factors the Minister will consider in deciding on the location of the headquarters of the new entities.
Deputies:
Specifically regarding the matter raised by the Deputy, in arriving at a decision on the location of the headquarters the Minister will consider a range of factors. These include the need to ensure that the location of a VEC headquarters will, to the greatest extent possible, facilitate staff redeployment under a redeployment scheme within the context of the Croke Park agreement and the need to operate at lowest cost, having regard to the accommodation available in existing locations. Following completion of the Minister's deliberations, the locations of the headquarters will be announced in the coming period.
Deputies:
On the wider decision to revise the configuration of VECs, I appreciate the significant contribution the VEC sector has made to the development of our education system over the years. I acknowledge the fine tradition of providing high quality education and of placing a particular emphasis on meeting the needs of the most disadvantaged in our society which characterises the VEC sector. We are facing challenging times as a country and in the education sector. We need to build on the strengths of the VEC sector in tackling these challenges. It is well positioned to play a key role in the transformation of our education system, given its long-standing ability to respond to new challenges in the education sector.
Deputies:
A reconfigured vocational sector with a reduced number of VECs will provide for a more efficient deployment of resources, a very important issue in the current difficult economic environment. Importantly, it will provide strengthened capacity at VEC level to drive improvements in our education system. Last week, the Government announced its decision to proceed with a reduction in the number of VECs from 33 to 16 and to consolidate the existing nine vocational education Acts into one new Bill. Deputies have details of the revised new entities.
Deputies:
In the Programme for National Recovery 2011-2016, this Government is committed to local devolution of administrative functions relating to maintenance, school building projects and coordination of support services currently carried out by principals. VEC rationalisation will enable and support such devolution without adversely affecting the delivery or quality of front line education provision. In addition, the new VEC entities will be well positioned to bring enhanced purchasing power, through leveraging, to bear in securing value for money for schools and the wider provision of education providers in all levels of the school system.
Deputies:
I thank Deputy Mulherin for affording me the opportunity to respond to the House on this matter. The Minister for Education and Skills will announce shortly the location for the headquarters.