Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 437: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if he will review the cap on the number of post-leaving certificate, PLC, places; his views on whether in the current economic climate it would be more productive to increase the number of PLC places for students to allow them the opportunity to improve their skills, when the alternative for many would be to access unemployment benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12993/09]

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.