Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My last question follows from an earlier point. I came in when Paul Delaney was speaking. It is important not to set someone up for a course that he is not able for. A person may be unable to concentrate for so many hours in a day or perhaps it is not in his nature and that is probably part of the reason he ended up in trouble in the first place. I am unsure who is best qualified to answer the question. How do the delegations find dealing with FÁS? The Probation Service is fine, the community welfare officers can be sympathetic and the Department of Social Protection will try to set a person up with a payment. Perhaps a community welfare officer will tide him over for a while until all that gets done. However, FÁS has an important role. I do not believe the sympathy element comes in at a FÁS counter. When organisations are trying to get someone onto a course it is important that FÁS is very much a part of the service to get people in during their first week out. A person can go off the rails after one week if three or four doors have not opened for him. What is the position with FÁS and the National Learning Network, which used to be called Rehab? Both these organisations can help ex-offenders or ex-prisoners. Is FÁS in the network for dealing with these projects?