Vol. 510 No. 3
412 Mr. Roche asked the Minister for Education and Science the measures, if any, he will introduce to end the situation whereby Baltinglass Education Resource Centre is refused financial recognition and support from his Department in view of the fact other similar centres are or have been in receipt of this support for many years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22672/99]
The report of the working group established to review the operation of recognised outdoor education centres, which are owned and managed by vocational education committees, is currently under consideration in my Department. This examination is being undertaken with a view to developing future policies relating to vocational education committee outdoor education centres. The position of Baltinglass and other VEC outdoor education centres which are not currently recognised for the purposes of grant aid in respect of staffing and equipment costs will be considered in that context.
As you will appreciate, the expansion of the network of outdoor education centres will, among other things, be subject to standard budgetary constraints in relation to the availability of funding.
