Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Finally, this is a question in respect of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund. I looked at the figures regarding Dell, Waterford Crystal, SR Technics and TalkTalk. The inadequacies of the monitoring processes and the need to beef them up have been acknowledged all round. I have two worries in respect of that fund. The first is the reimbursement of over €11 million to the EU. We discussed this here previously. The Minister was moved to describe the handling of that matter as maladministration, if I recall it correctly. He used very strong language about it. That is worrying. How effective is this?

We make investments at an EU level in the likes of this initiative or in FÁS. I note that, in 2012, FÁS spent €298.9 million on the basis that persons were upskilled and re-entered the workforce. One would not draw much heart from the limited feedback that one sees here in respect of Dell, Waterford Crystal and SR Technics. There is a significant non-response rate to outcome surveys. On those in education, in the case of Dell, the surveys showed 9%; in Waterford Crystal, 12%; and in SR Technics, 10%. For skilled workforces, that strikes me as low. On those employed or self-employed, in Dell, it was 21% of those reporting back which is a small number; in respect of Waterford Crystal, 15%, which is also a small response rate; and in respect of SR Technics, 15%. There is no outcome data for TalkTalk. This might be a general question but I want to put it nonetheless. Are we getting value for money? Are the workers getting value for money? Is there a flaw in that approach? Is it tied up with the maladministration of which the Minister spoke at the time?

I put the same question in respect of FÁS. Of the moneys spent, there were 83,000 learners and 5 million training days. That sounds impressive, but what is the outcome? What is the return because that is why the investment is made in the first instance? If these are not getting the unemployed back into the labour market, albeit in difficult circumstances, surely we need to re-evaluate not only the systems and the oversight, but maybe the approach itself.