Mr. Paul O'Toole:

We forecast the demands in each of the crafts over the coming years to the best of our ability. We then forecast the capacity to meet that demand within the broad education and training board and institute of technology sector. To explain to those who might be less familiar, the education and training boards generally provide what is called phase two training, which is a period of 20 weeks, to apprentices while the institutes of technology generally provide two periods of ten weeks, which are called phases four and six. The training is divided between those two types of provider. Recognising that the existing capacity in the old training centres was insufficient to meet the forecast demand, we sought expressions of interest from education and training boards willing to put forward proposals to take up some of that slack. We respond to those proposals. That is the process we follow.

In respect of the old FÁS training centres, the entire network transferred to the relevant education and training boards-----