Mr. Tony Kieran:

I will revert briefly to consider the extensions. As we said earlier, roughly 600 extensions have been granted so far to allow people to stay on schemes. Those extensions are granted on the basis that the sponsors have advertised the post because as Ms Hurley said, it is an effort to get long-term unemployed people back into activation and training. When the new people come in, part of the role of the supervisor is to work out training and development plans with them. I take the point the Senator made about losing people who are well trained up and skilled at what they are doing, and who know what they are doing, and their being replaced by people who do not know what they are doing. That has always been the case and is a part of the progression.

On the training grants that are available, every scheme is given a grant of €250 per participant. As the committee knows, there are differences in that people over the age of 55 do not have to engage in training. The full grant is available to the scheme to use for anybody who avails of it. We encourage everybody to take up training opportunities. Opportunities with the ETBs are also available. Many of our schemes access training through the ETBs and other facilities that are out there. There is flexibility in that regard. There is enough money available to provide the training that needs to be done.

The Department makes a contribution towards the costs of materials for the schemes. There is a variation in the rates, which has been raised at the committee in recent weeks. There was some talk about standardising the rate. There is rationale for the variation in rates. Some of the sponsors are income-generating and do not apply for high levels of payment. There are cases where the rates of payment are very low. That is with the agreement of the sponsors because they are income-generating and do not need higher rates. However, where a scheme or a sponsor has difficulty, we conduct a review in conjunction with the local community development officer and our central areas. We will review and look at the rates. We are conscious of some of the costs that are impacting people now. I am sure the Senator is well aware of them.