Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I want to assure the Deputy there is a serious urgency attached to the national roll out of SOLAS. The summer break was the reason for the three week hiatus between 31 August and yesterday, and we plan to meet every two weeks from now on. We have also established a number of subgroups within the implementation group which will oversee certain elements of the change management process, and these are very considerable indeed.

In respect of representation on the SOLAS implementation group, I have always been an advocate of keeping it small and effective. There are nine people around the table in the group. We are charged with making this happen. I would argue that the VEC sector is well represented on the implementation group by Michael Moriarty of the IVEA and CEO of one of the VECs who is on a rotating basis with fellow CEOs across the country. FÁS is also well represented by its CEO and another senior staff member.

We plan to engage all the organisations mentioned by the Deputy in a comprehensive submission and consultation process. We will first seek written submissions from all those affected, after which we will hold a day of discussion and debate on what exactly SOLAS should set out to achieve. We are anxious that this will be an inclusive process. The message I am receiving from FÁS and the IVEA is that both organisations are extremely happy with the way the process is developing, very much buy into the establishment of SOLAS and are excited about what it hopes to achieve in the coming years.

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