Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 149: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the average waiting time is nationally for placement on a Youthreach programme; the average waiting time in Dublin; and what each of these figures was in the years 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. [6365/12]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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There are almost 6,000 Youthreach places available nationwide under the Youthreach umbrella funded by my Department. Almost 3,700 of these places are provided by VECs in just over 100 Youthreach centres. The majority of the remainder of places are provided by FÁS in Community Training Centres. I am aware that there is significant demand for further education and training programmes in general but my Department does not collect data on waiting lists, including for the Youthreach programme. The overall number of approved Youthreach 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.