Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I begin by acknowledging the hard work and dedication of the staff of Waterford VEC and of VECs across the country in delivering further education courses, including PLC courses, to learners. While this measure affects PLC provision, a range of further education and training courses are available across the sector. While it would have been preferable to avoid any changes, by bringing the PLC pupil teacher ratio, which is the cut referred to by the Senator, into line with that in free second level schools, my Department has succeeded in protecting the class sizes in primary and free second level schools for the coming year, ensuring that our limited resources are rightly focused on the children in our education system.

As Senator Cullinane is aware, PLC courses are designed for school leavers and adults returning to education to enable people to gain specific vocational skills which enhance their prospects of employment, as well as providing a route to progress to higher education. There are 32,688 approved PLC places available nationally and this will be maintained into the next academic year. By maintaining the number of approved places, my Department has sought to mitigate the impact of the change.

The majority of PLC courses are provided by VECs, with the remainder delivered in community and comprehensive and voluntary secondary schools. My Department allocates PLC places to VECs and other schools and approves courses for delivery annually. The VECs then allocate places to schools and colleges under their remit. The reduction in the pupil teacher ratio will reduce the number of PLC teaching posts by 200 and may lead to some reduction in subject choices for learners.

In 2012, my Department provided ¤160 million in funding for PLC courses. This covers staff costs and non-pay costs as well as student support. This investment enabled a total of 36,500 people to participate in PLC courses. PLC is free for unemployed people and those on low incomes, and two thirds of PLC participants are availing of this currently. There is a ¤200 participant contribution for other participants.

This measure is expected to generate some ¤12 million in estimated savings in a full year and ¤4 million in 2013. To amend this measure would mean introducing additional budget measures in education which would impact on other front-line services.

The City of Waterford VEC has approval for 790 PLC places for its two PLC centres, with 863 participants currently enrolled, the majority of whom are in Waterford College of Further Education. It is estimated that this budget measure will result in a reduction in their teacher allocation of four posts.

The further education sector has expanded over the past few decades, developing many innovative programmes for its learners, and investment in further education has been maintained at consistent levels in recent years. It is now up to CEOs of the VECs along with their school principals to look at the resources available to them and to work to ensure they can continue to deliver programmes which closely meet the needs of both learners and employers.