Thirty training places at the city of Galway VEC’s Sandy Road training centre have been lost due to “unthinking and illogical bureaucracy” according to Labour councillor Derek Nolan.
Cllr Nolan, who is also a VEC member, said the Sandy Road centre was instructed to cut their resources by 30 per cent, as part of general VEC cutbacks, which would have resulted in a reduction of 15 places.
Cllr Nolan said the VEC management took an innovative approach to the problem and prepared a reorganisational plan for the centre.
“The plan would produce even greater savings and allow numbers to actually increase by 15,” he said. “Shamefully, the plans were vetoed by the Department of Education on the grounds that all action must be uniform across the country.”
Cllr Nolan has condemned the department’s decision as an example of “unthinking and illogical bureaucracy” which “cannot see beyond a spreadsheet and allow innovation in its own ranks”.
