Vocational Education Committees

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 October 2010

Tuesday, 19 October 2010

Ceisteanna (142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148)

Willie Penrose

Ceist:

185 Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills when the implementation of the decision to amalgamate the existing 33 Vocational Education Committees into 16 VECs will be announced; if Marlinstown, Mullingar will be the location of the amalgamated Laois, Offaly and Westmeath VECs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37759/10]

Freagraí scríofa

Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Mary Coughlan)

My Department will be commencing discussions with the relevant stakeholders, including trade unions representing staff in the VEC sector, in relation to the detailed implementation of this Government's decision to amalgamate the existing 33 Vocational Education Committees into 16 VECs. Many of the detailed aspects of the restructuring, including the location of the headquarters of the new VECs, will fall to be considered and worked through by my Department in conjunction with the VECs involved in any one merger before decisions are taken.

M. J. Nolan

Ceist:

186 Deputy M. J. Nolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools under the auspices of each Vocational Education Committee; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37916/10]

M. J. Nolan

Ceist:

187 Deputy M. J. Nolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the number of secondary school pupils under the auspices of each Vocational Education Committee; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37917/10]

Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Mary Coughlan)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 186 and 187 together.

The data which the Deputy requires are set out in the table which gives both the number of schools under the auspices of each Vocational Education Committee as well as the number of pupils excluding Post-Leaving Certificate and Core VTOS students.

PP Schools In Each VEC for the 2009/2010 school year

Enrolment figures are as at 30th September 2009
VEC No.	Official Name	Total Schools	Total Pupils
1	City of Cork VEC	6	5,284
2	City of Dublin VEC	22	13,051
3	City of Limerick VEC	3	1,714
4	City of Waterford VEC	2	1,466
7	Dun Laoghaire VEC	3	2,579
8	City of Galway VEC	3	2,229
12	Co. Carlow VEC	5	2,387
13	Co. Cavan VEC	5	3,135
14	Co. Clare VEC	7	2,166
15	Co. Cork VEC	21	10,015
16	Co. Donegal VEC	15	4,670
17	Co. Dublin VEC	26	11,367
18	Co. Galway VEC	11	2,160
19	Kerry Education Service	8	2,842
20	Co. Kildare VEC	10	4,294
21	Co. Kilkenny VEC	8	2,630
22	Co. Laois VEC	3	1,139
23	Co. Leitrim VEC	4	1,079
24	Co. Limerick VEC	9	4,470
25	Co. Longford VEC	4	992
26	Co. Louth VEC	5	3,784
27	Co. Mayo VEC	8	2,295
28	Co. Meath VEC	9	4,608
29	Co. Monaghan VEC	6	2,490
30	Co. Offaly VEC	5	1,766
31	Co. Roscommon VEC	3	714
32	Co. Sligo VEC	6	1,650
33	Co. Tipperary (NR) VEC	6	2,394
34	Co. Tipperary (SR) VEC	5	2,115
35	Co. Waterford VEC	3	1,224
36	Co. Westmeath VEC	4	1,692
37	Co. Wexford VEC	7	2,855
38	Co. Wicklow VEC	11	5,283

Source: PEIP.

M. J. Nolan

Ceist:

188 Deputy M. J. Nolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the number of post-leaving certificate students under the auspices of each Vocational Education Committee; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37918/10]

Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Mary Coughlan)

The figures for Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) enrolments which the Deputy requested are contained in the file below.

These figures are extracted from the returns of recognised post-primary schools for 2009/10. This is the latest school year for which complete figures are available. Please note that in the case of Co. Laois in addition to the figures enrolled for post-primary schools there are also two Further Education Centres which had a combined total enrolment of 80 PLC students. These figures are included in the total for Co. Laois.

VEC	Uptake October 2009
Co. Cavan	1,581
Co. Carlow	992
Co. Clare	168
City of Cork	4,456
Co. Cork	1,466
City of Dublin	8,995
Co. Dublin	1,195
Borough of Dun Laoghaire	2,580
Co. Donegal	229
City of Galway	1,578
Co. Galway	221
Co. Kerry	751
Co. Kildare	395
Co. Kilkenny	669
Co. Laois	386*
Co. Leitrim	94
City of Limerick	1,199
Co. Limerick	354
Co. Longford	424
Co. Louth	1,474
Co. Mayo	501
Co. Meath	451
Co. Monaghan	363
Co. Offaly	49
Co. Roscommon	55
Co. Sligo	843
Co. Tipperary N.R.	747
Co. Tipperary S.R.	329
City of Waterford	904
Co. Waterford	240
Co. Wexford	941
Co. Westmeath	208
Co. Wicklow	1,285
Total	36,123

*Includes 2 Further Education Centres with a combined total of 80 students.

Figures provided by Department of Education and Skills October 2010.

M. J. Nolan

Ceist:

189 Deputy M. J. Nolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the annual budget for each Vocational Education Committee; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37919/10]

Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Mary Coughlan)

The most recent year for which full details of expenditure in VECs in relation to programmes and services under the auspices of my Department is 2009. I set out below for the Deputy's information a breakdown of current expenditure per VEC for that year.

Current Expenditure per VEC (2009)

VEC	Current expenditure 2009
	€m
City of Cork	50.28
City of Dublin	150.54
City of Galway	22.40
City of Limerick	26.57
City of Waterford	17.97
Dun Laoghaire	20.43
Co. Carlow	21.76
Co. Cavan	25.47
Co. Clare	30.43
Co. Cork	90.70
Co. Donegal	51.32
Co. Dublin	108.17
Co. Galway	34.16
Co. Kerry	37.43
Co. Kildare	38.53
Co. Kilkenny	25.82
Co. Laois	18.52
Co. Leitrim	11.98
Co. Limerick	38.98
Co. Longford	13.77
Co. Louth	31.22
Co. Mayo	28.94
Co. Meath	39.31
Co. Monaghan	23.52
Co. Offaly	20.74
Co. Roscommon	13.02
Co. Sligo	16.74
Co. Tipperary NR	25.48
Co. Tipperary SR	23.55
Co. Waterford	14.64
Co. Westmeath	21.38
Co. Wexford	34.30
Co. Wicklow	47.82

M. J. Nolan

Ceist:

190 Deputy M. J. Nolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the number of staff employed by each Vocational Education Committee; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37920/10]

Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Mary Coughlan)

As the Deputy is aware, VECs are statutory bodies which employ and pay their own staff.

The information sought by the Deputy is being compiled by my officials and will be forwarded to him as soon as it is available.

M. J. Nolan

Ceist:

191 Deputy M. J. Nolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the number of teachers employed by each Vocational Education Committee; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37921/10]

Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Mary Coughlan)

The criteria used for the allocation of teachers to schools is published annually on my Department's website. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level for the current school year is the pupil enrolment at 30 September 2009. There are currently just over 8,400 wtes (whole time equivalent posts) allocated to the VEC sector. The document below sets out the information as requested by the Deputy.

VEC Scheme	No. of Teaching Posts
Co. Cavan	207
Co. Carlow	165
Co. Clare	180
City of Cork	331
Co. Cork	802
City of Dublin	791
Co. Dublin	898
Borough of Dun Laoghaire	155
Co. Donegal	391
City of Galway	139
Co. Galway	199
Co. Kerry	226
Co. Kildare	342
Co. Kilkenny	199
Co. Laois	99
Co. Leitrim	96
City of Limerick	115
Co. Limerick	356
Co. Longford	89
Co. Louth	265
Co. Mayo	200
Co. Meath	362
Co. Monaghan	201
Co. Offaly	153
Co. Roscommon	62
Co. Sligo	113
Co. Tipperary N.R.	186
Co. Tipperary S.R.	169
City of Waterford	99
Co. Waterford	95
Co. Wexford	234
Co. Westmeath	132
Co. Wicklow	388