A Vocational Education Committee (VEC) is a statutory

Statute

A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...

 local education body in the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 that administers some secondary education, most adult education and a very small amount of primary education in the state. Before 1992 VECs had authority over the Dublin Institute of Technology

Dublin Institute of Technology

Dublin Institute of Technology was established officially in 1992 under the but had been previously set up in 1978 on an ad-hoc basis. The institution can trace its origins back to 1887 with the establishment of various technical institutions in Dublin, Ireland...

 and the Regional Technical College

Regional Technical College

An Institute of Technology or IT is a type of further education college found in Ireland. There are a total of fourteen colleges that use the title of Institute of Technology, which were created from the late 1960s and were formerly known as Regional Technical Colleges...

s.

Establishment

VECs were originally created by the Vocational Education Act 1930, as successors to the Technical Instruction Committees established by the Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act 1899. The original purpose of the committees was to administer continuation and technical education for 14 to 16 year-olds. Continuation education was defined as "general and practical training in preparation for employment in trades", while technical education was described as "pertaining to trades, manufacturers, commerce and other industrial pursuits". To this end the VECs were charged with the duty of setting up and maintaining vocational school

Vocational school

A vocational school , providing vocational education, is a school in which students are taught the skills needed to perform a particular job...

s.

Present duties

Since 1930 the duties of VECs have increased, in particular in the area of adult education. These include:

Post-primary (secondary) education

• Vocational Schools
• Community Colleges

Further and adult education

• Post-Leaving Certificate courses (PLCs)
• Youthreach Services
• Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)
• Community Education

VECs also administer maintenance grants and bursaries for third-level education.

In September 2008, County Dublin VEC opened the first Community National School, in Porterstown, Dublin 15. This marks the first time a VEC has become involved in primary school education. http://www.codubvec.ie/index.cfm/go/news_one/news_key/266

Organization

VECs were originally established in each administrative county

Administrative county

An administrative county was an administrative division in England and Wales and Ireland used for the purposes of local government. They are now abolished, although in Northern Ireland their former areas are used as the basis for lieutenancy....

 and county borough

County borough

County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...

 in the then Irish Free State

Irish Free State

The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...

. In addition, a VEC was formed in those municipal borough

Municipal borough

Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...

s and urban district

Urban district

In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....

s which had a separate Technical Instruction Committee under the 1899 legislation (namely Bray

Bray

Bray is a town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is a busy urban centre and seaside resort, with a population of 31,901 making it the fourth largest in Ireland as of the 2006 census...

, Drogheda

Drogheda

Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....

, Sligo

Sligo

Sligo is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is sometimes referred to as a city, and sometimes as a town, and is the second largest urban area in Connacht...

, Tralee and Wexford

Wexford

Wexford is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. It is situated near the southeastern corner of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to Dublin via the M11/N11 National Primary Route, and the national rail network...

) and in the newly-created Borough of Dún Laoghaire

Corporation of Dún Laoghaire

The Corporation of Dún Laoghaire was a local authority in County Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland from 1930 to 1994, covering the municipal borough of Dún Laoghaire...

.

The number of VECs was reduced to the present thirty-three when five town committees were amalgamated with the adjacent county committees, leaving Dun Laoghaire as the only VEC area not consisting of a city or county.

Committees

Each Vocational Education Committee was elected by the county, borough or urban district council and consisted partly of councillors and partly of persons with an "interest and experience in education" and who could be recommended by bodies "interested in manufacture or trades".

The Vocational Education (Amendment) Act 2001 changed the composition of the committees, and parents of students under 18 and members of the staff are also entitled to elect committee members. Members can also be appointed to represent the interests of students, voluntary organisations, community organisations, Irish language

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

 interests and business.

List of Vocational Education Committees

>

VEC	Notes	Website
County Carlow		http://www.carlowvec.ie
County Cavan		http://www.cavanvec.ie
County Clare		http://www.clarevec.ie
City of Cork		http://www.corkvec.ie
County Cork		http://www.cocorkvec.ie
County Donegal		http://www.donegalvec.ie>http://www.donegalvec.ie
City of Dublin		http://www.cdvec.ie
County Dublin	Covers Fingal Fingal Fingal is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. With its county seat located in Swords, it has a population of 239,992 according to the 2006 census... , South Dublin South Dublin South Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. The county seat is Tallaght, the largest suburb of Dublin and the biggest urban centre in the county. Other important centres of population are Lucan and Clondalkin...  and part of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. Located to the south-east of Dublin city, its county seat is the town of Dún Laoghaire. It is one of the four constituent parts of the Dublin Region...	http://www.codubvec.ie
Dun Laoghaire	Part of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown (the former borough of Dun Laoghaire)	http://www.dlvec.ie
City of Galway		http://www.cgvec.ie
County Galway		http://www.countygalwayvec.ie
Kerry Education Service (County Kerry VEC)	Absorbed Town of Tralee VEC 1997	http://www.cokerryed.ie
County Kildare		http://www.kildarevec.ie
County Kilkenny		http://www.kilkennyvec.ie
County Laois		http://www.laoisvec.ie
County Leitrim		http://www.leitrimvec.ie
City of Limerick		http://www.clvec.ie
County Limerick		http://www.limerickvec.ie
County Longford		http://www.longfordvec.ie
County Louth	Absorbed Town of Drogheda VEC 1997	http://www.louthvec.ie
County Mayo		http://www.mayovec.ie
County Meath		http://www.meathvec.ie
County Monaghan		http://www.monaghanvec.ie
County Offaly		http://www.offalyvec.ie
County Roscommon		http://www.roscommonvec.ie
County Sligo	Absorbed Town of Sligo VEC 1997	http://www.sligovec.ie
North Tipperary		http://www.tippnorthvec.ie
South Tipperary		http://www.tippsouthvec.ie
City of Waterford		http://www.waterfordvec.ie
County Waterford		http://www.wd-vec.ie
County Westmeath		http://www.westmeathvec.ie
County Wexford	Absorbed Town of Wexford VEC 1997	http://www.countywexfordvec.ie
County Wicklow	Absorbed Town of Bray VEC 1997	http://www.wicklowvec.ie

Future amalgamations

In October 2010 the Department of Education and Skills announced that the number of VECs is to be reduced from 33 to 16 by amalgamation In 2011 the new government confirmed that scale of reduction but revised the scheme of amalgamations It subsequently announced the establishment of SOLAS, a new steering and funding agency to cover the further education provision of the VECs, which will also absorb the training activities formerly carried out by FÁS

Fas

Fas can mean the following:* Fas receptor, an important cell surface receptor protein of the TNF receptor family known also as CD95, that induces apoptosis on binding Fas ligand.* Fes, Morocco, the third largest city in Morocco, as an alternate spelling...

.

1. County Dublin and Dun Laoghaire
2. City of Dublin
3. City of Galway, County Galway, County Roscommon
4. County Cork and City of Cork
5. County Kerry
6. City of Limerick, County Limerick and County Clare
7. City of Waterford, County Waterford and County Wexford
8. North and South Tipperary
9. County Donegal
10. County Kildare and County Wicklow
11. County Mayo, County Sligo and County Leitrim
12. County Cavan and County Monaghan
13. County Laois and County Offaly
14. County Carlow, and County Kilkenny
15. County Longford and Cuunty Westmeath
16. County Meath and County Louth