Vol. 500 No. 6
94 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will make a special allocation of £200,000 available to the private agricultural and horticultural colleges towards the cost of maintenance; and his views on whether there are major structural defects in many of those colleges. [4694/99]
Under section 4 of the Agriculture (Research, Training and Advice) Act, 1988, Teagasc is charged, inter alia, with the provision of educational and training services in agriculture. In conformity with this provision, Exchequer funding for these services is channelled through Teagasc. Accordingly, the provision of maintenance grants to the private colleges is a matter for Teagasc to consider when deciding on the allocation of its financial resources. I understand that Teagasc has recently decided to allocate £90,000 to the private colleges in 1999 to carry out certain essential works.
Teagasc has also made a submission to my Department seeking funding over a five year period to meet the capital development needs of all the agricultural training facilities, including the private colleges. However, as these needs will be influenced by the level of future demand for training, Teagasc has, at my request, commissioned a study to establish the likely level of such demand. I propose to await the outcome of this study, which is expected to be completed within a matter of months, before making a final decision on the funding proposals.
