Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The question relates to the difficulties older people encounter, because of their age, when seeking employment. Evidence suggests there has been an increase in the order of approximately 10% in the employment of older people over recent years. We have had good success in this regard. FÁS intervention through the One Step Up initiative is very much directed at workers in employment. Through the Excellence Through People programme and others, involving both individual companies and sectors, FÁS has had success in upskilling.

One of the most effective training programmes to date, the Skillnet programme, does not involve FÁS. It is industry-led and is very much based on the sector itself identifying gaps, coming together, providing content and delivering a programme to deal with the gaps.

FÁS will expand the One Step Up initiative in the years to come under the national skills strategy. In Dungarvan, FÁS intervened very effectively in respect of the job losses at Waterford Glass. I received detailed accounts of its impact from the regional manager. The recent feedback from Motorola was positive in terms of the FÁS interface with the workers. I hear such stories across the country. Increasingly there will be interaction with those at work, rather than with those who become unemployed.

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