Haughey faces testing timetable in education

SEAN HAUGHEY’S newfound ministerial status may have come as a political relief, but some weighty issues will keep him on his feet at the Department of Education between now and next year’s general election.

With Síle de Valera leaving the Minister of State’s office she occupied at the Department of Education since June 2002, the groundwork has been carried out for him in some of the biggest areas of responsibility, the main ones being:

* New structures for further education and PLC colleges.