Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

Ireland has a strong private training system and of the 80% of FÁS funding which is outsourced to public and private providers, a high proportion goes to the latter. There are many private colleges in the higher education sector. We are very supportive of their active engagement in the various programmes. An example is the momentum initiative, which is deliberately designed to have programmes which lead to people accessing employment again. We had open tenders, which FÁS organised, for public and private providers. This is outside the EGF. We are very supportive of the private sector getting involved. We are trying to put in place an appropriate mix of public sector further and higher education and training which must meet a wide range of needs. Public sector provision must meet the needs of school leavers, adult learners and the long-term unemployed, including the needs of the long-term unemployed aged under 25 years. We have been developing aspects of specialism within that over the last three or four years and there are limits and cost pressures to address. We have had to increase the pupil-teacher ratio for post-leaving certificate courses and reduce the funding for higher education institutions. We have had to reduce the funding and number of staff available to FÁS.

There are challenges to operating within the private sector and we are very open to the concept in the EGF of grants which a redundant worker can use for a training or higher education programme. The person will know what programme will meet his or her needs and fund the fees with the grant. We are as positive as possible about the balance between the public and private sectors. The EGF is framed in that context.