Ms Fionuala McGeever:

Tipperary ETB was established on 1 July 2013 as a result of the amalgamation of north and south Tipperary VECs. It manages 11 second-level schools and one special school, St. Joseph's detention centre, Ferryhouse, Clonmel. In addition, it operates extensive further education and training programmes and has youth officers in both north and south Tipperary supporting the development of youth services. In total, Tipperary ETB manages 30 buildings including schools, further education and training centres and administration offices. The two offices are the headquarters in Nenagh and the designated sub-office in Clonmel, the result of a ministerial decision. The distance between the two offices is 90 km, a 180 km round trip. There is no administration office in Thurles.

In 2016, Tipperary ETB managed a budget of €50.6 million. The main elements of this budget were schools and administration, €32 million, further education and training €13.7 million, youth services €0.6 million, capital funding €1.8 million, other programmes €2.5 million. By far the largest element of our expenditure is staff pay costs. For the last full financial year, 2016, these costs were almost €35 million. The full-year expenditure in 2017 will be approximately €55 million.

County Tipperary has a population of just fewer than 160,000. It is the sixth largest and the largest inland county. Population growth in recent years has been modest and below the national average. Traditionally, north Tipperary has been aligned with the mid-west region and south Tipperary with the south east. This requires participation in regional boards in both areas. Estimated unemployment stands at approximately 9.3% against a national figure of 7.5%.

Several significant milestones have been achieved since the amalgamation in 2013. The highlights include the transfer of training services for the county from both Waterford and Wexford ETB and Limerick and Clare ETB in March 2016; the opening of the new €12 million public private partnership, PPP, school at Comeragh college, Carrick-on-Suir in 2016; and the opening of the new €1 million extension to Borrisokane community college recent weeks. In each year, the financial statements have been signed by the Comptroller and Auditor General within the following 12 months. Unqualified Comptroller and Auditor General audit reports have issued since amalgamation. There has been a successful amalgamation of the two former VECs, including the merger of the financial database and the establishment of network connectivity between the two offices. We have also implemented a robust risk management process including focused staff training.

During 2016, Tipperary ETB employed 1,200 staff. This includes full-time and part-time teachers, tutors, special needs assistants, caretakers, cleaners and administrative staff. This year Tipperary ETB provides education services across the county to 4,708 students at second level and post leaving certificate, 9,809 people in further education, 662 people in training, and 583 people in part-time/night classes. Our 90 post leaving certificate courses are provided at eight locations at levels five and six. Enrolments in schools and post leaving certificate courses in 2017 have increased by 4.6% since 2016.

The main achievements since the amalgamation have been to maintain continuity, uphold standards of corporate governance and minimise risks of failure. The draft accounts produced by Tipperary ETB for 31 December 2014 were submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General on 19 September 2015 and the final sign-off was 31 December 2015. The draft accounts for the year to 31 December 2015 were submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General on 23 September 2016 and the final sign-off was on 16 December 2016. Our 2016 accounts will be signed off in the next day or so, or even possibly this evening.

At the end of 2016, the two databases of the former VECs were merged following the completion of the government network connection between the two offices. The 2016 accounts were the first set to be produced from the amalgamated database. Since 2013, priority has been given to producing the V15 in as timely a manner as possible. In each year, Tipperary ETB has had it statements signed by the Comptroller and Auditor General within the following year. In common with other ETBs which use the Manser/ESI system, production of the V15 is largely a manual exercise using Excel spreadsheets. The board and the finance and audit committee are continually updated on the expenditure throughout the year. This year will be the first set of accounts to be produced from a full year of operating the amalgamated database. We believe this will lead to a significant improvement in the timeliness of finalising the V15 for 2017.

Financial reporting is now managed centrally from the Nenagh office by the finance APO. All Comptroller and Auditor General audit reports have been unqualified. The merge of the main financial database was completed in 2016. The introduction of way-2-pay allowing students and parents to make online payments for books, contributions, tours, etc, has reduced the amount of cash managed by schools. Tipperary ETB has assumed responsibility for training services including new systems such as SAP, new payment and accounting processes. An automated system, DCS, is in place for part-time staff to submit their timesheets for payment. This is being rolled out to additional centres across the county. ·A portal is being tested which will allow staff travel claims to be submitted automatically and for staff P60s to be distributed electronically. The payroll function is being centralised in Clonmel and all other payment processes, creditors, travel, trainee payments, are being centralised in Nenagh in preparation for the move to shared services.

SOLAS introduced the Funding Allocations Request and Reporting, FARR, system and Tipperary ETB has introduced the FARR web application.

In terms of human resources, staff recruitment is managed from one office in Nenagh and the volume of recruitment has ramped up significantly, in particular in the further education and training area. Some 200 positions were advertised in 2017. Staff leave is managed and recorded from one office in Clonmel. Contract conversion for back to education initiative, BTEI, staff is currently in progress under a national initiative of which we are part. Continuing professional development, CPD, policies are in place that encourage all staff to upskill to meet the changing needs of Tipperary ETB. Arrangements are in place for part-time staff to join the superannuation scheme and staff training on the single public service pension scheme is ongoing.

As regards corporate services, including capital, procurement and ICT, additional work on freedom of information, FOI, data protection etc. has been taken on in this area and is managed centrally from Nenagh. All statutory committees are in place and are working effectively. They are also managed from Nenagh. Tippeary ETB complies with FOI reporting requirements and this is published on our website. A comprehensive risk management process is now in place and there is a regular review of risk registers. Comprehensive training for boards of management and board members has been completed. Tipperary ETB worked with Education and Training Boards Ireland, ETBI, to upgrade its website utilising the common design template and our site went live last week. School websites are currently being upgraded and new sites will go live in November 2017. Office 365 and related cloud-based services are being introduced in schools and further education and training, FET, centres. Encryption of mobile devices to improve security and comply with data protection is in progress. Several significant procurement processes have been completed by Tipperary ETB including print services, canteen provision, contracted cleaning, school books and all ICT hardware requirements. The capital programme includes a combination of major and minor capital works including the provision of new autism spectrum disorder, ASD, facilities, school extensions and various upgrade and repair works. Capital expenditure in 2016 was €1.8 million. The VSware administration platform has been introduced in schools.

The revised policy direction and funding model for further education and training resulting from the establishment of SOLAS has been embraced by Tipperary ETB. These changes have altered the structure of governance, strategy, focus and funding of FET provision. The integration of FET as a result of the establishment of Tipperary ETB has resulted in improved service provision to learners, the removal of duplication of programme provision and an extension of available course provision. Following the establishment of SOLAS, Tipperary ETB has fully implemented the additional reporting and other requirements including strategic planning, progress review, monitoring of outcomes, the FARR reporting requirements, adaption of the programme learner support system, PLSS, database and the revised QQI processes. The transfer of the training services function in March 2016 was a significant event in the history of Tipperary ETB. Prior to that, training services provided in the county had been managed from either Waterford or Limerick. With the transfer of training services, there has been an expansion in the volume of courses provided, additional staff have been hired to manage the service and in 2017 Tipperary ETB received sanction from SOLAS to operate national apprenticeship courses for the first time. Those courses will start in early 2018 and will be based in a new training centre in Thurles. In our written submission I have given a breakdown of our training programmes and numbers. The total programme provision is 10,101, including services for refugees and asylum seekers.

Highlights of the current youth services provision include two new sample projects in Cahir and Fethard-Killenaule that were established in 2016-17 with funding of €261,000 from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, DCYA. They are projects of national significance because that will be the way forward for funding of youth services. Local youth work equipment grants of €170,000 were allocated to 35 youth groups and 35 youth club groups benefitted from €45,000 under the local youth club grant scheme. The student leaders congress held in recently in Nenagh College was the first of its kind in the country. All student leaders in our schools were represented and it provided a forum for us to listen to their voices. It was the first event of its kind in the country.

In articulating the progress that has been made in Tipperary ETB as outlined above, it is important to note that the staff employed by Tipperary ETB have tirelessly shown their commitment, dedication, adaptability, innovation and perseverance in moving through the most momentous period of change the education and training sector has ever seen. Our focus in the immediate future will include ongoing improvements in our service delivery including the introduction of new ICT services, managing the impact of shared services on our staff and services, the introduction of new apprenticeships, managing growth in our schools and expanding the scope of services delivered in further education and training.