asked the Minister for Education if he is satisfied with the suspension of the one-year training course for graduates to qualify as national teachers at the Mary Immaculate College of Education, Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

It became necessary to restrict the number of graduates to be admitted in 1982 to the one year course for qualification as national teacher in order to secure a reasonable balance between the output of qualified national teachers from the Colleges of Education and the number of vacancies in teaching posts in national schools. This restriction in the number of such admissions involved the suspension of the relevant course in Mary Immaculate College of Education for the 1982-83 session.