The application deadline for Teagasc Green Cert courses was Friday 11 July – for both the Distance Education and Part-Time courses. Teagasc hasn't disclosed how many applications they received, saying it will be late July before it is known how many part-time applications were sent in. Reports in recent weeks anticipated there would be 1,500 applications, which is 1,000 more than Teagasc has room for across the two courses.

Teagasc says the Department of Agriculture has been “considering” the staffing implications arising from the exceptional levels of demand due to the CAP proposals. Recent reports speculated 30 additional part-time staff would be needed in Teagasc to cater for the demand.

Teagasc notes the application process was advanced from the intended period in the autumn to establish levels and locations of demand, and to help in planning.

Teagasc will not commit to a date for when successful applicants can find out if they have a place or not, saying given there are a lot of factors involved, confirmation or not of course places will not take place for “some time.”