Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am really pleased to hear the Minister of State saying that funding will not be an issue with regard to capital expenditure on buildings because, as he will know himself, some of the buildings in which training and courses are delivered desperately need some capital funding, although others are excellent. I welcome that. I bring to the Minister of State's attention the town of Ballyhaunis. There has been an application in for some time with regard to delivering training and apprenticeships in a centre in the town where programmes have been delivered. I mention Ballyhaunis in particular because it is a very vibrant, multicultural town, which results in challenges, particularly with regard to delivering training and apprenticeships within the community. I ask the Minister of State to look at that application. I will wait until tomorrow to see the criteria being used for this. I ask the Minister of State to take the whole town and the make-up of the population into consideration because delivering apprenticeships within the community so that people do not have to travel can result in many positive externalities that can feed into the whole of the community, helping those who are working very hard to ensure the community is vibrant. The bank in Ballyhaunis has been taken away. It had a Bank of Ireland branch and another bank but there is no bank there now. One of the best ways to ensure the town is sustainable and viable and to increase the human capital within it is to provide for apprenticeships and training in order that people can find work of the very same kind they would be doing in those apprenticeships in the area and meet the skills demands there. It is crucially important. We should not miss this opportunity.