Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 June 2025
952. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of courses, along with their title and number of places available, that have been discontinued in each ETB, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32108/25]
View answerFurther Education and Training (FET) is primarily delivered or contracted by the 16 Education and Training Boards (ETBs), within national guidelines.
This Department has significantly increased its investment in the FET sector, from circa €909 million in 2020 to €1,055 million in 2024. As the state agency responsible for the FET sector in Ireland, SOLAS allocates the vast majority of this funding to the 16 Education and Training Boards (ETBs) to deliver FET programmes and services at local level.
As independent statutory organisations, the allocation and management of this funding to different FET programmes within each ETB, and the planning and scheduling of courses, is a matter for the ETB in light of provision needs and available budget. In my role as Minister, I have no function in relation to these operational matters.
My Department does not collect the level of data requested by the Deputy. This would be an operational matter for the 16 ETBs.
