Recruitment Underway for Teagasc College Courses

Issued 10^th May 2002

Recruitment is now underway for vocational certificate courses run by Teagasc in 10 agricultural and horticultural colleges.

Up to 900 college places are available for young people interested in careers in farming, food horticulture, landscape horticulture, forestry, horses, pigs and in all aspects of the services and processing sectors of the agri-food industry.

Announcing the recruitment campaign, Paddy Browne, Head of Training with Teagasc said all courses are now nationally accredited by the Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC) and have been benchmarked to the highest international standards.

''A major advantage of the new training programmes is that participants can progress from the vocational certificate level to third level courses run by Teagasc and institutes of technology and from there to university degree level. This offers exciting opportunities for participants'', he said.

Paddy Browne stressed that the next generation of farmers, whether full-time or part-time, must be adequately trained in order to survive in a more competitive and regulated industry.

''Also training is now obligatory in order to qualify for stamp duty exemption, vital state and EU aids and additional milk and suckler cow quota''.

''For example, young people born after 1 January 1968 must have completed the two year Vocational Certificate in Agriculture to qualify for stamp duty exemption, stock relief and additional quota'', he said.

In addition to careers for young people inheriting family farms, Paddy Browne said that many opportunities exist for qualified farm managers both in Ireland and overseas. He also highlighted the opportunities for careers in the thriving landscape gardening area and in forestry and horse production.

Young people enrolling in agricultural and horticultural courses next September will benefit from a massive upgrading of college facilities. From January 2001 to December 2002 a total of €14m will have been invested in colleges ensuring that facilities are on a par with the best internationally.

Full details of all Teagasc courses are available in the 2002 Prospectus available from all colleges and Teagasc advisory and training centres. Comprehensive information is also available on the Teagasc website at www.teagasc.ie

Application forms are available from colleges or Teagasc centres or can be downloaded from the Teagasc website.