John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 71: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason he is considering a proposal for 16 vocational education committees rather than the 22 VECs recommended in the report of the special group on public service numbers and expenditure programmes; if the will detail the savings that will be made through these amalgamations and identify any new costs involved. [26654/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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In July 2009, the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes recommended that the number of VECs could be reduced from 33 to 22 and aligned with the functional areas of the 22 Local Authorities, also recommended by the Group.

In September 2009 the then Minister for Education and Science invited interested parties to make written submission in relation to a reduction in the number of VECs. Arising from this process, the previous Government decided in October 2010 to reduce the overall number of VECs from 33 to 16 and agreed on the merger of particular counties. At the core of this restructuring is the need to address the current low scale and size of operations in particular VECs in order to position the sector for future development. In this regard, the previous Government decided on a reduction to 16 new entities.

In June of this year, the Government confirmed a reduction to 16 but decided to revise the configuration agreed by the previous government.

The new VEC structure fits with the Government's policy of reducing the number of agencies and is consistent with the strategic objectives of the transforming public service agenda through service delivery by a smaller number of agencies, each benefiting from efficiencies of greater scale. This change will better position the sector for future development particularly in the context of the work of SOLAS. It will also facilitate the required reductions, under the public service Employment Control Framework, of administrative staff employed in VECs, while protecting the services provided by VECs.

The Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes suggested that savings of €3million could be realised .The reconfiguration to 16 can, over time, yield such savings in the recurrent cost of the headquarter functions of VECs which, at present, is of the order of €40 million in total. Since some of the likely savings from the restructuring of the VECs will come from the sale of existing VEC buildings these may not be realised in the short term. The potential revenue to be raised from the sale of these assets, however, is closely linked to the current state of the property market and it may not be possible to dispose of such properties satisfactorily in the short term and must proceed in such a manner that does not give rise to new or additional costs in a manner that prejudices realising the savings that are targeted.

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 72: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will detail the criteria which will be required to determine the location of the new headquarters for the vocational education committees; and the proposals for existing staff and or grades within the proposed new amalgamated structure. [26655/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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In the coming period, I will be designating the headquarter location for the 16 bodies. In doing so, I will be taking a number of factors into account. The VEC headquarters must, as far as possible, be able to facilitate redeployment of staff having regard to the terms of the Croke Park Agreement. Where redeployment of all of the headquarters staff in an entity to one location is not possible due to a distance factor, or where for other reasons such as suitability of buildings, it is not feasible to have all of staff based in one headquarter building, I am giving consideration to the possibility of having sub-offices in some locations, at least for the medium term. Issues in relation to the staff will be worked through in accordance with the Croke Park agreement and will involve the unions representative of the grades concerned.

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 73: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the role of local democratic control within the proposed new vocational education committee structure. [26656/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Within a matter of weeks I hope to have the approval of the Government for the publication of the General Scheme of an Education and Training Boards Bill. This Bill will consolidate the existing nine Vocational Education Acts and will reflect the enhanced role future role of the Sector. This will be a substantial piece of legislation which will provide for the legal establishment of the new Education and Training Boards and among other things it will set out the composition of the new Education & Training Board Committees, including representation from the relevant local authorities in each case.