Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Question 41: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he intends to look at the issue of agricultural college placements when demand far exceeds supply in view of the strong emphasis being placed on agriculture at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14589/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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This is an operational matter for the Teagasc Authority.

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 to prioritise activities in the delivery of these services and to allocate its resources in accordance with these priorities.

Teagasc provide a wide range of full and part-time agricultural and horticultural courses through their network of agricultural colleges, regional education centres and in collaboration with Institutes of Technologies and Universities. It is acknowledged that the demand for courses has reached unprecedented levels in recent years. In order to respond positively to the current demand for places, Teagasc were granted exceptional sanction in August 2011 to recruit six contract teaching staff in the agricultural colleges. This measure was complemented by other Teagasc initiatives including increased student- teacher ratios, redeployment of six advisory staff to the colleges and subcontracting the delivery of specific education modules across a number of colleges and local centres. As a result of these initiatives, all the Agricultural Colleges were able to take in additional students in 2011.

The question of additional resources into the future must have regard to the need to reduce public service numbers. This requires all public bodies to comply with annual ceilings on staff numbers and to reallocate or reorganise work or staff accordingly.