THE TECHNICAL working group of the Commission on School Accommodation Needs has now completed its report on the question of Vocational Education Committee rationalisation. The report is with the Commission's steering committee and will be submitted to the Minister for Education soon.

The steering group is representative of the partners in education; the technical working group is independent of the Minister.

In a recent profile of the new TUI president, Alice Prendergast, she indicated that the Minister had put the number of new VECs at 18; however a spokesperson for the Department of Education has pointed out that any suggestion that the "precise number of VECs that might be involved, or the Minister's intentions, is entirely premature".

Alice Prendergast was quoted in error as referring to 18 VEC schools, when it was clearly VECs she was referring to.