Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

The Bill has almost completed its passage through the Houses. I understand it finished Committee and Report Stages in the Seanad yesterday. The Minister is keen to establish SOLAS at the earliest opportunity and he has met the board of FÁS and thanked it for its work, while recognising that it must continue to do that work until it is completed. He gave his thanks, and that of the Department, for the work it has done over the previous three years.

We hope to establish SOLAS as a body as early as possible in the autumn. SOLAS will not be able to undertake all of its tasks at that stage, however. It will begin to undertake its tasks but it will still need to organise the delivery of training until the training centres are transferred to the education and training boards. Our target is to transfer at least six centres before the end of the year and the remaining centres by the end of the following year. There will be a rolling transfer of training centres to the education and training boards from the point when SOLAS is established and for approximately one year afterwards.