Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

Consequently, I am satisfied that the educational needs of the people of County Tipperary can be best served by having north Tipperary and south Tipperary in different groupings.

Senator Mooney asked why some of the proposed amalgamations crossed provincial boundaries. The revised new structures aim to bring each VEC area up to a critical mass of activity level. Where possible, this requires a budget as close as possible to €50 million. In addition, officials of the Department of Education and Skills took account of other factors such as the total area covered by a VEC, the distance between extremities of the area, the road network within the area and the alignment of other regional structures. Having selected combinations on the basis of these criteria, one of the 16 new VEC areas will cross provincial boundaries. Although counties Leitrim, Roscommon and Longford are not linked in any other regional structures, I am satisfied that the combination of these VECs will provide a VEC which has the critical mass of activity level to meet the educational needs of the people of these three counties.

I thank the Senators for their contributions. It was worthwhile having this debate shortly after the Government announcement. None the less, that announcement is but the first step and the detail of this announcement has to be worked out in full consultation. I hope I have given some pointers to the House as to how the various issues will be dealt with. I look forward to keeping in contact with this House as this process evolves and to giving the required information to Senators.