VEC CEO, John Blunnie admitted that there was "no possibility" of PLC courses running in either Mohill or Carrigallen this year and he noted that the Department of Education and Science had only allocated 92 places in the remaining courses on offer in the county, despite the fact that 97 students participated in PLC courses in Co Leitrim last year.

Mr Blunnie explained that the VEC had been penalised to the extent of 18 teaching hours a week because enrolment in PLC courses last year had been 15 places over the quota of 82. He added that this had been because enrolments in Drumshanbo had totalled 69 places when only 54 were actually allocated.

In a bid to deal with this Drumshanbo will get an additional 10 places this year, following an appeal, bringing their allocation to 64. However Lough Allen College, Drumkeerin will see no change to their allocation of 28 places.

Following this news, Cllr Mary Bohan expressed her disappointment at this "short-sighted" approach to providing training from the Department.

She noted how instrumental PLC courses were in providing training in the county and said that many students who had completed courses in Lough Allen College, Drumkeerin, had gone on to further enterprise and education.

"If the Government are serious about retraining then they have to address this," she said, adding that, in light of growing unemployment, the demands on such courses were only set to increase over the next few months.

"At the moment there are already 18 people enrolled for courses at Lough Allen College," she noted, "That is a huge demand very early on and it is absolutely essential that these courses go ahead."
She said that an increase of 10 places on appeal to the Department was not enough, especially when they were allocated, in total, to just one school.

"We want equal treatment for all in our schools," she said.
Lough Allen College Teacher Representative, Sinead Dore, agreed stating it was unfair that those applying for PLC courses were "left in limbo", especially when demand for places was so high.

Following questions from Cllr Paddy O'Rourke and Cllr Enda Stenson on the possibility of running PLC courses in Carrigallen and Mohill this year, Mr Blunnie explained that although the Department of Education and Science had sanctioned PLC courses for both schools, it wouldn't sanction the extra teachers or extra places required for these courses to run.

"That means that there is no possibility of courses running in Carrigallen," he acknowledged, adding that the situation was the same in Mohill.

Cllr Mary Bohan put forward two proposals, firstly that both courses at Lough Allen College go ahead this year and secondly that members of the VEC seek a meeting with the Department in relation to additional PLC places.

"If we are serious about helping the unemployed people of our area get back into employment through training then we are going to have to do something now to ensure that they don't fall through the net," she urged.

Cllr Enda Stenson agreed with the proposal to meet with the Department. "It seems the Department aren't interested in education any longer," he said, "the cuts are county wide."

Cllr John Ward also expressed his disappointment with the news noting that, with the amount of people currently joining dole queues and the growing costs of social welfare, "it seems incredible that the Government weren't prepared to facilitate more PLC places".

Mr Blunnie said that the matter of places was already under appeal and he remained optimistic.

Cllr Bohan proposed that the VEC meet with the Department to voice their concerns and "strengthen the hand" of Co Leitrim VEC in the appeals process.

This proposal was seconded by Mohill Community Representative, Gerry McGee.