Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The provision of grants for students participating in further and higher education is provided for by way of secondary legislation through an annual scheme of grants and a set of regulations governed by the Student Support Act 2011. As it currently stands, an approved institution in the further education sector is one that receives a grant out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, pursuant to a scheme administered by the Minister for the provision of post-leaving certificate, PLC, courses.

Following the transfer of the administration of these courses to SOLAS after its establishment last year, for clarity I propose to remove the current reference to PLC courses as being "pursuant to a scheme administered by the Minister". As a result of the change to SOLAS, the proposed amendment would not reflect the change needed to clarify arrangements on the administration of PLC courses following the establishment of SOLAS. While I appreciate what the Senator is trying to do, it is because of the establishment of SOLAS that we feel the language needs to be changed as we propose.