Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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Question 39: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of school leavers who completed leaving certificate during each of the past five years; the social backgrounds according to the Central Statistics Office classification; the average leaving certificate points secured by the students in each social class; his views on whether significant extra resources need to be allocated to post leaving certificates and Ireland's Institution of Technology to enable the children of workers defined by the CSO as from the lower socio-economic categories, to continue to access third level education and training (details supplied). [25724/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations. Statistics in relation to the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate examinations (2000 - 2011) including the number of school leavers who completed the Leaving Certificate and Junior Certificate for the last 12 years can be downloaded from State Examinations Commission website:- www.examinations.ie/statistics. The State Examinations Commission does not have direct details on the socio-economic background of students. However, candidates whose parents or guardians hold a current medical card are exempt from paying examination entry fees. Approximately 30% of all candidates benefit under this scheme and the number of such candidates has increased in recent times. The fee alleviation scheme does not apply to appeal fees or to statement fees.

I wish to inform the Deputy that the HEA published, in January 2010, its report "Hidden Disadvantage? A study on the Low Participation in Higher Education by the Non- Manual Group". It provides a wealth of data on Leaving Certificate achievement and participation in higher education by social class. The research was conducted by the ESRI. The report highlights that participation in higher education has risen steadily in Ireland since 1960s. However, it also found that the only exception to this trend was those participants from the non-manual socio economic group - which in fact showed a decline in their estimated participation rate - from 29% in 1998 to between 25 and 27% in 2004.

The Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) programme is available to young people who have completed their Leaving Certificate and adults returning to education. Its purpose is to enhance their prospects of gaining employment or progressing to further or higher education. 65% of PLC participants were exempt from payment of the PLC participant contribution introduced this year. Full medical card holders (in their own right and their dependent children), those eligible under the student grant scheme and /or those in receipt of the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) or Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) allowances are exempt from paying the contribution, which should ensure that those who are less well off will continue to have access to PLC courses.

In 2009, 1,500 additional PLC places were allocated to VECs and in May 2011 due to prioritisation and, as part of the Jobs Initiative, a further 1,000 PLC places were allocated, bringing the total number of approved PLC places nationwide to 32,688, which enabled some 36,600 people to participate in PLC courses in the current academic year. My Department is not in a position at this point to increase that number further, or to approve all the places sought. There is a continuing requirement to plan and control numbers, to manage expenditure and provide for future investment and growth, within the context of overall educational policy and provision.

The Department of Education and Skills allocates funding to third level institutions, including Institutes of Technology, to support the implementation of equality of access and lifelong learning policies, through the Recurrent Grant Allocation Model (RGAM). In 2012, a total of €20.2m in core access funding has been allocated to the thirteen Institutes of Technology to cater for students in each of the institutions who enter as mature students or who are from target socio-economic groups or have a disability. Each Institute of Technology also receives an annual allocation from the Student Assistance Fund. Full-time students registered in Institutes of Technology on courses of not less than one-year duration leading to an undergraduate or postgraduate qualification are eligible to apply for the Fund. Assistance is commonly provided to help students with the costs of rent, childcare, and books/materials. Students can make an application for support to their Access Officer.

A total of €9m was allocated for the Fund in 2011-12. Of this, €4.1m was allocated to the Institutes of Technology. A total of 3,454 students in the institutes of technology were supported by the Fund in 2010-11.