Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

Some of what the Deputy has said is over the top and I do not quite understand him. He says there is a very good project in the area rehabilitating people and that is fine. It was set up under the process and has a FÁS supervisor and €80,000 per annum of core funding which provides two extra staff. Therefore, there are currently three staff involved in the project. FÁS is an important agency in the area of the rehabilitation of drug addicts and currently has approximately 1,000 CE places ringfenced for it. Many projects with FÁS CE places do great work. I distance myself from the Deputy's criticism of FÁS because its projects are worthwhile. The Deputy's comments are at variance with the facts and with what people on the ground would say.

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