THE Minister for Education, Ms Breathnach, is to amalgamate the country's five town Vocational Education Committees with their respective county VECs, following the recommendations of the report of the Steering Group of the Commission on School Accommodation Needs of VECs.
The five town VECs affected are Bray, Sligo, Tralee, Donegal and Wexford.
The Minister said she would be putting in place "a process of facilitation" to ensure these amalgamations proceeded smoothly and that local committees representing the five town VECs would be retained until the next local elections.
The steering group has recommended that the number of VECs should be reduced from 38 to 21 in a process of rationalisation.
The Teachers Union of Ireland, which represents teaching staff in the VEC sector, has objected to this as excessive and says the number should be reduced to 24.
The union is objecting to the proposed amalgamations of the VECs in North Tipperary and Clare; South Tipperary and Waterford; and Carlow and Kilkenny. It argues that these VECs are viable and could stand alone.
The Minister has said that final decisions on any future amalgamations will be taken in the context of the amending of the current vocational education legislation.
Mr Jim Dorney, general secretary of the TUI, said his union would be making representations to the Minister that the three disputed amalgamations should not go ahead, but the TUI would go along with the report's other recommendations.