Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 711: To ask the Minister for Education and Science his plans for the future of the Irish Vocational Education Association; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23111/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA) represents the interests, at national level, of the thirty three Vocational Education Committees. The IVEA, which was formally known as the Irish Technical Education Association, was established in 1902 and the name was changed to the IVEA in 1944.

The IVEA is recognised by my Department as one of the three second level management bodies under the Education Act, 1998. The IVEA fulfils a range of functions which seek to protect, promote and enhance the interests of vocational education and training within the wider education sector and the country at large.

The IVEA is an independent organisation governed under a Constitution unanimously passed at an Extraordinary Congress of the Association in 2003. Therefore, the future of the IVEA is a matter for the Association itself.