Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 80: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason his Department has imposed a lower cap on the number of students in a college (details supplied) in County Cork; his views on the need for an increased number of places in view of the rapid growth of unemployment; the measures he is taking to ensure re-training programmes are increased; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12253/09]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The overall number of approved PLC places is set at its current level of 30,188 because there is a continuing requirement to plan and control numbers and to manage expenditure within the context of overall educational policy and provision. Due to the difficult budgetary position, it was not possible to increase the number of places this year. Any possible future increase would have to take account of the present and prospective economic and budgetary context and related financial constraints.

Places are allocated to Vocational Education Committees (VECs) on an annual basis following an application process. It is then a matter for VECs to allocate those places to their colleges and institutions. Each application is examined by my Department on its merits, taking into account current and previous allocations, current and previous demand and uptake, the overall places available and the overall demand from VECs generally.

In the case of the VEC for the college referred to by the Deputy, there was a decline in the uptake of PLC places over the last number of years up to and including the 2007-2008 academic year and this was factored into the decision to reduce the allocation to the VEC for the 2008-2009 academic year.