Under the plan presented to the Teagasc authority earlier this month, Teagasc, private agricultural colleges and external contractors would join forces to boost capacity and allow all applicants to enter the Green Cert in the next three years.
Teagasc would open 15 new temporary teaching positions, allowing its own four colleges to take in more than 1,000 additional students over three years. Extra capacity could top 1,200.The three private colleges accredited by Teagasc (Mountbellew, Pallaskenry and Gurteen) would increase their own teaching capacity to add 800 students over the next three years.An external service provider would be contracted to deliver courses in the north and northwest regions, where increased demand has been most intense and no agricultural colleges are based. This would cater for the remaining 1,600 applicants.We are looking for 15 teachers to be sanctioned by the Department as temporary staff
“We are looking for 15 teachers to be sanctioned by the Department as temporary staff,” IFA deputy president Richard Kennedy (pictured), who sits on the Teagasc authority, told the Irish Farmers Journal. 
He said the temporary positions were needed to clear the backlog of applications generated by the requirement to complete a Level 6 agricultural course to secure the young farmer top-up.
While the private colleges are independent and can increase their staff freely, Teagasc positions must be approved by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. This is likely to be the trickiest piece of the puzzle, as Teagasc already hired 70 fixed-term contract staff to cover additional needs in the past two years.
Teagasc director Gerry Boyle told the Irish Farmers Journal last month that around 20 of these contracts are expiring at the end of this year and more will expire next year.
’Other staffing measures’
Minster for Agriculture Michael Creed said last month that his Department had asked Teagasc to “explore other staffing measures, beyond further temporary recruitment, to ensure that any residual demand for the Green Cert can be accommodated within a realistic time frame”.
Contractors brought in to organise courses in the north and northwest would need to be “carefully vetted” to ensure quality, said Richard Kennedy, while acknowledging the gap: “There are significant numbers of applications in from that region who are not near an agricultural college,” he said.
According to Kennedy, providing the additional capacity would be “more or less self-financing” as student fees would cover the cost of extra staff.
Read more
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Challenge to clear green cert ‘backlog’
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Under the plan presented to the Teagasc authority earlier this month, Teagasc, private agricultural colleges and external contractors would join forces to boost capacity and allow all applicants to enter the Green Cert in the next three years.
Teagasc would open 15 new temporary teaching positions, allowing its own four colleges to take in more than 1,000 additional students over three years. Extra capacity could top 1,200.The three private colleges accredited by Teagasc (Mountbellew, Pallaskenry and Gurteen) would increase their own teaching capacity to add 800 students over the next three years.An external service provider would be contracted to deliver courses in the north and northwest regions, where increased demand has been most intense and no agricultural colleges are based. This would cater for the remaining 1,600 applicants.We are looking for 15 teachers to be sanctioned by the Department as temporary staff
“We are looking for 15 teachers to be sanctioned by the Department as temporary staff,” IFA deputy president Richard Kennedy (pictured), who sits on the Teagasc authority, told the Irish Farmers Journal. He said the temporary positions were needed to clear the backlog of applications generated by the requirement to complete a Level 6 agricultural course to secure the young farmer top-up.
While the private colleges are independent and can increase their staff freely, Teagasc positions must be approved by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. This is likely to be the trickiest piece of the puzzle, as Teagasc already hired 70 fixed-term contract staff to cover additional needs in the past two years.
Teagasc director Gerry Boyle told the Irish Farmers Journal last month that around 20 of these contracts are expiring at the end of this year and more will expire next year.
’Other staffing measures’
Minster for Agriculture Michael Creed said last month that his Department had asked Teagasc to “explore other staffing measures, beyond further temporary recruitment, to ensure that any residual demand for the Green Cert can be accommodated within a realistic time frame”.
Contractors brought in to organise courses in the north and northwest would need to be “carefully vetted” to ensure quality, said Richard Kennedy, while acknowledging the gap: “There are significant numbers of applications in from that region who are not near an agricultural college,” he said.
According to Kennedy, providing the additional capacity would be “more or less self-financing” as student fees would cover the cost of extra staff.
Read more
What are the five challenges for the Green Cert?
Challenge to clear green cert ‘backlog’
Full coverage: Green Cert
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