Vol. 447 No. 1
109 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Social Welfare if there is a 10 per cent ceiling on places allocated on the VTOS for persons who are in receipt of social welfare benefits other than unemployment assistance; and, if so, his views on whether this constitutes discrimination against women, especially deserted wives. [3234/94]
The vocational training opportunities scheme was established in 1989 to give unemployed people a "second chance" to obtain second level education in specially run courses organised by the vocational education committees. It was initially confined to people on the live register which was the main target of the scheme. In 1993 it was decided to allocate up to 10 per cent of places to other social welfare categories such as unmarried mothers, widows and deserted wives.
The number of places available in any year is a matter for the Minister for Education and is related to the likely demand, the capability of the vocational education committees to provide them and the financial resources available. I understand participation at the end of the 1993-94 academic year stood at 4,073 people of which 429 or 10.5 per cent were from social welfare categories other than unemployed people and that some 5,000 places were approved for the academic year 1994-95 with a proportional number reserved for those other than unemployed people.
