Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Question 121: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if teachers involved in FETAC courses with portfolio and work in before Easter, consequently no teaching duties in the last term, are paid for correcting the work during the last school term in addition to their salaries. [13847/11]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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In the 1993-94 academic year, national certification for Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses was introduced for the first time by the National Council for Vocational Awards. A fee structure was negotiated with the teacher unions by my Department on the basis of a fee per module per student, in line with practice in other State examinations, where payment is made for work undertaken in addition to normal teaching duties. These payments continued to be paid with the transfer of functions from the National Council for Vocational Awards to the Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC).

The assessments are carried out on students' work prior to the submission of authenticated results to FETAC. In the current academic year, these authenticated results are required to be forwarded to FETAC by 5 June 2011 to facilitate the issue of certification in July. This meant all assessments had to be undertaken and verified internally and externally prior to the 5 June deadline. Teachers in PLC courses are required to undertake a range of duties in addition to their teaching duties as part of their normal working year, including participation in the promotion of courses, involvement with the internal verification and the external verification process and involvement in the selection of students for the next academic year.