John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 491: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if level eight of the agri-business management course will be provided at Waterford Institute of Technology in view of the high number of students from the region who are anxious to complete the level at Waterford IT; if permission and funding will be granted by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18244/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Regional Technical Colleges Act 1992 sets out a statutory procedure to be followed by Institutes of Technology when seeking new course approvals. In accordance with the statutory procedure and established practice new courses can only be considered in the context of the Annual Programme and Budget submission for the year in which it is proposed to commence the courses.

I understand that the agri-business management course was not included in the Waterford Institute of Technology's Operational Programme and Budget submission for the academic year 2006/2007 and because of this my Department is not in a position to consider approving this course for commencement in the forthcoming academic year. If however, Waterford Institute of Technology wishes to include this course in its Operational Programme and Budget submission next year, the matter can be considered at that time.