Long wait list still for Teagasc green courses
“The allocation of 75 new permanent posts will also greatly assist Teagasc in delivering services to the farming sector, including education and training,” said Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Andrew Doyle last week.
The current exceptional demand is linked to the young farmers scheme and the national reserve, which require applicants to have a prescribed level-6 agriculture qualification, which is a green certificate or equivalent.
About 2,000 of these applicants require adult green cert places.
Teagasc was approved to appoint 20 new temporary education officers in 2014, and again in mid-2015, on two-year employment contracts. It enabled Teagasc to increase enrolments from a typical year of 500 to over 1,500.
Teagasc was allocated 30 temporary posts in November 2015, and seven temporary administrative staff for a two-year period to address the huge volume of course administration that arose.
Most of the 77 have been hired and are now working on the green cert programme, helping to deliver record numbers of enrolments, forecasted to top 4,500 for the 2014 to 2016 course period.
Teagasc has also been approved to replace staff when they retire and to make 75 new permanent appointments, subject to compliance with multi-annual pay ceilings.
Mr Doyle said the Department has asked Teagasc to explore other staffing measures beyond temporary recruitment to ensure any residual demand for the green certificate can be accommodated within a realistic timeframe.
He was responding in a Senate debate to Fianna Fail Senator Robbie Gallagher, who said Ballyhaise Agricultural College in Co Cavan has 460 students completing part-time and distance education programmes, with a commitment for an additional 105 students start those programmes before the end of 2016.
There are 605 students on a waiting list in Ballyhaise to complete these courses.
