Confirmation that the number of VECs will be reduced to sixteen.
Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn T.D. announced today that the Government had approved a revised reconfiguration of the Vocational Education Committees system.
Announcing the decision, Minister Quinn said, “I am pressing ahead with the work on restructuring the VEC system. I was prepared to take a fresh look at how best to bring about a reduction in the number of VECs and gave considerable weight to a submission made to me by the IVEA who had expressed concerns regarding the configuration decided by the previous Government”
Today’s decision confirms that the number of VECs will be reduced to 16 but involves different mergers to those previously announced.
“I believe the set of mergers approved by the Government today is more appropriate” said the Minister.
“For example the peripheral position of Kerry is now recognised, the merger of the two Tipperary VECs will be more cohesive in a county context and the merger of Cork City and County VECs aligns the position in Cork with that planned for Limerick, Waterford and Galway,” explained the Minister.
Minister Quinn also indicated that legislation to bring about the changes was being prepared and that it would involve the consolidation of the provisions of the existing nine Vocational Acts into one new bill.
“This new bill will reflect the important role which these new entities will play in relation to education and training in the future,” added the Minister.
The sixteen revised VEC areas are as follows:
City of Dublin
City of Cork and Co. Cork
Co. Dublin and Dun Laoghaire
City of Limerick, Co. Limerick and Co. Clare
Co. Donegal
Co. Kerry
Co. Tipperary North and South
City of Waterford, Co. Waterford and Co. Wexford
City of Galway, Co. Galway and Co. Roscommon
Co. Mayo, Co. Sligo and Co. Leitrim
Co. Cavan and Co. Monaghan
Co. Louth and Co. Meath
Co. Longford and Co. Westmeath
Co. Laois and Co. Offaly
Co. Kildare and Co. Wicklow
Co. Kilkenny and Co. Carlow