Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Nuzum and the team. I have always been a fan of Skillnets. It is close to market. Mr. Nuzum's organisation is responsible for much of the shake-up in education and training in the past few years.

I am interested in two matters. ManagementWorks is probably a departure from Skillnets original core mission. How many have gone through it at this stage and what is Skillnets doing to promote it?

I note that Skillnets has €500,000 available for the private sector. Skillnets documentation states that it is targeting regions and industries not fully serviced by the training networks. I note it refers to the Border and midland regions. Why is there a reluctance in those two regions to engage in networks? Has Skillnets attempted to get in there previously? Has it any specific industries in mind to target?