Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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100. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an update on whether colleges of further education that provide higher education courses (details supplied) in addition to post leaving certificate courses, are eligible to apply to offer springboard and momentum skills places; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26157/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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It is open to all public, private and not for profit higher education providers to submit proposals for courses to be funded under Springboard. All courses approved for funding are selected by an independent panel with industry and educational expertise, having regard to published selection criteria and following a competitive tendering process. A call for proposals for courses to be run under Springboard 2013 was issued by the Higher Education Authority in February 2013 with a deadline for receipt of proposals of 9 April. The call documentation is available on the Higher Education Authority website (www.hea.ie/en/node/1502). Details of the courses selected for funding by the independent panel will be available in the coming weeks.

Both public and private providers were also eligible to apply for funding from the Momentum fund, subject to a tender process. There were two stages in this process: (i) pre-qualification and (ii) project proposals assessment. Notification of the pre-qualification for the current round of funds was published on the e-tenders website last summer. Pre-qualified providers had the opportunity to submit proposals which were considered in line with the tender specification. No subsequent notification has been published.