The Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills, Ms. Mary Coughlan, TD, has announced a restructuring of the Vocational Education Committee system, involving a reduction in the number of VECs from 33 to 16 through the merger of existing VECs.

Detail of the sixteen revised VEC areas are as follows:

• Co. Dublin and Dun Laoghaire  
• City of Dublin 
• City of Galway and Co. Galway 
• City of Cork  
• Co. Cork  
• City of Limerick, Co. Limerick and Co. Kerry 
• City of Waterford, Co. Waterford and Tipperary South Riding 
•  Donegal  
•  Wexford and Wicklow 
• Carlow, Kilkenny and Kildare  
• Laois, Offaly and Westmeath 
• Louth and Meath  
• Cavan and Monaghan 
• Mayo and Sligo 
• Leitrim, Roscommon and Longford
• Clare and Tipperary North Riding