Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 December 2013
332. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to create more places and courses in agricultural colleges as current demand exceeds actual placements and considering the great developments in farming and food science and the Government's ambition to achieve Food Harvest 2020 targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51439/13]
View answerUnder the Agricultural (Research, Training and Advice) Act, 1988, Teagasc has responsibility for the provision of education and training services to the agricultural sector. These services are delivered through a network of agricultural colleges, regional education and local centres and in collaboration with three privately-owned colleges. Within the various colleges and at local level, Teagasc provide an extensive range of courses in agriculture, horticulture, equine studies and forestry. The provision of additional places and courses is an operational matter for Teagasc and its Board. They currently cater for in excess of 2,000 full time college students, some 10,000 adult learners and also provide degree level courses in collaboration with various Institutes of Technology.
There has been a large increase in the demand for student places in the agriculture colleges in recent years reflecting the increased positivity towards the agri-food and farming sectors generally. Current trends suggest that demand has peaked and begun to level off in relation to some courses. Teagasc colleges were able to accommodate all student applications in the current academic year. They do not envisage increasing intake in the immediate years ahead and will focus instead on maintaining quality and appropriate student to staff ratios. A small number of VEC colleges have also commenced provision of Green Cert agriculture courses.
