Vol. 574 No. 2
113 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the date by which he expects all action plans under the benchmarking agreements will be agreed and published; and the date by which the performance verification groups must approve progress of these plans in order that the proposed 50% payment due on 1 January 2004 can be made. [25860/03]
The education sector performance verification group carried out an assessment of action plans in respect of institutions in the education sector in early October. The group agreed that a high degree of transparency was desirable and decided that publication of any one action plan was a matter for the individual institution concerned and advised the institutions to act accordingly. Under the terms of the agreement each sector's performance verification group will make an assessment of progress one month in advance of each of the payment dates specified in the agreement. I understand that the education sector performance verification group has meetings scheduled in November for this purpose.
