Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Under the Agriculture, (Research, Training and Advice) Act, 1988, Teagasc has statutory responsibility for the provision of education, research and advisory services to the Agriculture sector. It is a matter for Teagasc and its Board to prioritise activities in the delivery of these services and to allocate its resources in accordance with these priorities. Accordingly, delivery of the Teagasc education and training programme is an operational matter for Teagasc and its Board.

It is acknowledged that the demand for agricultural education has reached unprecedented levels over the past four years with a further very significant increase in demand for places in the current academic year. Taking account of this, and in order to respond positively to student demand, Teagasc were granted exceptional approval in August to recruit six new teachers. This approval was conditional on further initiatives by Teagasc to maximise student intake and improve efficiencies in the delivery of education services.

I understand that Teagasc has successfully recruited the new teachers and redeployed a further six advisory staff into the colleges to teach certain modules. Teacher/student ratios have been increased and a mechanism of contracting out the teaching of certain modules/skills is also being pursued. As a result of these initiatives, all the Agricultural Colleges were able to take in additional students this September with an estimated 250 extra places made available to meet the growing demand. Over 1,000 new students enrolled in 'further' level courses in agriculture and horticulture with a further 283 students studying 'higher' level courses linked to Institutes of Technology and Universities. Additional part-time courses are also being provided through the advisory service and a further 130 students will attend courses delivered through the Teagasc Regional Education Centres. This brings the total number of students studying on Teagasc run courses to 3,300.

Teagasc has a key developmental role in improving the competitiveness of the agri-food sector, supporting sustainable farming and the environment and encouraging diversification of the rural economy. For this reason, they receive substantial Exchequer resources each year to fund the delivery of education, research and advisory services to the agricultural sector. Requests to provide additional resources must have regard to Government efforts to drive efficiencies and contain public service numbers. Under the National Recovery Plan 2011-2014, the Government is committed to reducing public sector numbers to 294,700 by the end of 2014. Delivering the numbers reductions requires that the Moratorium applying to all public sector recruitment must remain in place. Therefore, when vacancies arise, public service organisations must re-allocate or re-organise work or staff accordingly. Any exceptions to this principle can only be considered in very limited circumstances in respect of mission-critical posts and in full compliance with annual ceilings on staff numbers.