Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State to discuss this interesting proposal from the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Mary Coughlan. We know there is to be a reduction from 33 to 16 VECs. The rationale contained in the Minister of State's comments seems reasonable, although if we thought this through we might come up with slightly different action. It is a reasonable enough idea and as a decision has been made, it is as good as any other and we should move on with it.

The four VECs remaining unchanged are Donegal, Cork city, Cork county and Dublin city. It is a reasonable move for three of them, although a question mark was previously raised about Donegal and whether the decision was made in the Minister's favour. It would be interesting to see the background to that decision and whether it meets criteria elsewhere. Given that there are questions it would be interesting to see the figures and it is important we do.

Before coming here I was not aware of a timeline but the Minister of State has indicated that 18 months has been suggested. We should examine that closely and it should not be allowed to drift. We should set the timeline for 18 months, work back from this and look at what must be delivered to achieve that target. There is no point in setting that goal today but returning in 18 months to say it has not been achieved. We must deliver upon set timelines.

VECs provide valuable education services and the Minister of State gave a substantial list, including post-leaving certificate courses, back-to-education initiatives, community education etc. It is tremendous work. Senator Ormonde mentioned the group cert but that might be gone.