Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State. He will be aware of the reports in the newspapers of late of the increase of 10% in the number of applications to the CAO. This increase is also felt in other sectors of higher education. Applications for post leaving certificate courses have also increased.

I spent Friday morning last with Deputy Wallace in the College of Further Education in Dunboyne in County Meath. That college has been a huge success. It was set up a number of years ago as part of St. Peter's community college, the local secondary school, and it has seen its numbers grow significantly. Already this year it is seeing an increase in applications of 15% on this time last year. That is really good news and it is great to see people going to the college. It is proof that the college is producing students and graduates of calibre, but the problem is a cap is in place.

The Minister of State may remember that approximately two and a half years ago of an October evening he and I spoke on this issue in the House. At that stage I spoke about the McIvor report into PLCs and I also raised the subject of lifting the cap. I am glad to say that perhaps as a result of submissions such as mine and that of Deputy Wallace, who has also been making the case for Dunboyne, the Minister of State managed to lift the cap. When we spoke on the previous occasion, the cap was approximately one student per 1,000 of population in Meath compared with a national average of one student per 250 of population. I am pleased we have now got to the point where the cap is one student per 500 of population in Meath, but it is still twice the national average. We need to see an increase in, and possibly a doubling of, the cap just to get up to the national average.

The benefits of doing this are clear to see for anybody who goes to these colleges. I have been lucky enough to be invited to the graduation night at the Dunboyne College of Further Education for a number of years. Year on year one sees more people graduating, the sense of self-worth of these graduates, and their subsequent entry into the jobs market.

People would join these courses if space were available. I heard of one student on a course in Dunboyne saying that if space were available, he could fill a bus with young people from houses along his estate who currently work part-time on a Saturday, who sit at home from Monday to Friday playing with Play Stations and with little else to do, and who would jump at the opportunity to be able to do a post leaving certificate course. However, Dunboyne has this cap which we would like to see lifted and I am asking the Minister of State to make a statement on it.

Another consequence of lifting the cap would be that it would provide certainty to the college for future expansion. It would mean it could try to find a site upon which to base itself and expand to cater for the number of students who wish to attend. I ask the Minister of State to make a statement on increasing the cap at Dunboyne College of Further Education.