Mary Wallace (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 598: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of post leaving certificate course places in relation to population on a county basis; if his attention has been drawn to the increase in demand for PLC places in a college (details supplied) in County Meath; his views on the fact that this college is catering fro the majority of PLC students in County Meath and that the adjoined area of Dublin, which as no PLC college of its own, and students from Dublin 15 and the surrounding areas of west Dublin are depending on the Meath Vocational Education Committee PLC places at this college as there are no places in their own area; his plans to review the position with a view to addressing this imbalance in view of the fact of the 2009 figures where 705 people applied for places at this college which has an allocation of 212 places from the County Meath cap of 250 places; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7797/10]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) programme provides an integrated general education, vocational training and work experience programme for young people who have completed their Leaving Certificate and adults returning to education. The information requested by the Deputy is in the following table.

List of PLC places sanctioned for 2009/2010 academic year and Population by County

Population data sourced from www.cso.ie.

There are a total of 31,688 approved PLC places available nationwide. The number of approved PLC places allocated to County Meath Vocational Education Committee (VEC) has more than doubled over the past five years from 136 in 2004/2005 to 290 in the current academic year (2009/2010). Currently three schools within County Meath VEC are approved PLC providers: the College of Further Education, Dunboyne; St. Oliver's Post Primary School, Oldcastle; and Beaufort College, Navan.

There are also two approved PLC providers in County Meath outside the VEC sector: Boyne Community School, Trim (22 places); and Athboy Community School (16 PLC places). This brings the total number of approved PLC places in Co Meath to 328. PLC places are allocated to providers, mainly VECs, on an annual basis following an application process. It is a matter for VECs to allocate 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. Regard is also had in this context to ensuring appropriate provision on a geographic basis and the necessary critical mass for delivery of a quality education service.

The overall number of approved PLC places is set at its current level because there is a continuing requirement to plan and control numbers and to manage expenditure within the context of overall educational policy and provision.