Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will come to that. I agree with the value of career guidance, but we did not cut the funding for it. One of the first aspects of SOLAS's work this year is a review of PLC places to determine whether we are getting value for money, which I believe we are, whether we need more places and whether we can add to the number. A major review of the provision of PLC places is under way this year. The findings of that might involve the reallocation of places around the country, in that some areas may need more places and other areas may not be availing of all the places they have. I have three letters on my desk this week from bodies seeking extra PLC places. In certain areas the offering of PLC places may not be taken up. That will be investigated. The PLC sector is a very important part of the education strategy. I want to be clear in stating that the numbers were not cut this year.

I have continued on this for too long, and I might return to other comments that were made. The general consensus is that people would agree that Springboard is doing great work. We want to build on that and to develop similar new initiatives. We have much to go on with in this area. It is a very important area and I will be fighting for more resources and money for it. We have brought the apprenticeship issue to Cabinet and they were all every enthusiastic about it. I said, "If that is the case, write the cheque and put the money behind it." Pressure will be put on to have increased spending in this sector. I think the Members would agree with that and that this is the way to do it. We have a major issue with jobs coming on stream and we have people who are still unemployed in certain areas, and we have to close that gap and bring them together. I look forward to working with the Members on this and coming back to them on it. I might have missed some of the questions that were raised, but I will certainly come back at a later stage and I can also meet people individually.