Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 October 2012
59. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason his Department allocation of places to County Kildare for the 2012/13 academic year is just 357, making it the fourth lowest per capita level of approval in the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43852/12]
View answerThe allocation referred to by the Deputy is the number of Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) places allocated to County Kildare Vocational Education Committee (VEC).
There are currently a total of 32,688 approved PLC places available nationwide. These places are allocated to providers, mainly VECs, but also some voluntary secondary and community and comprehensive schools, on an annual basis, following an application process. Each application is examined by officials in my Department on its merits, taking into account current and previous allocations, current and previous demand and uptake, the overall places available and the overall demand from providers generally.
