Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 223: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason additional teaching posts committed to further education colleges, referred to in Questions Nos. 397 and 399 of 29 November 2005 are concessionary posts and not permanent posts. [38567/05]

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 224: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason 74.29 additional teaching posts committed to further education colleges, referred to in Questions Nos. 397 and 399 of 29 November 2005 have been taken up out of the 96.25 made available. [38568/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions No. 224 and 223 together.

In the post-leaving certificate, PLC, sector, an additional 1,540 student places were approved by my Department during 2005. The majority of these additional student places were notified to PLC providers on the basis of applications received earlier this year. A further 60 student places will be approved shortly. On the basis of a pupil teacher ratio of 20:1.25, or 16:1 in whole figures, in the PLC sector, an additional 96.25 teaching posts would be available. However, at the time of writing, 74.29 posts have been taken up by schools. Officials in my Department are in consultation with the relevant management authority and schools to ensure, in so far as possible, any entitlement to new resources under this initiative is applied this year. I am anxious that the schools would take up these posts.