Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

In July the Government announced the establishment of SOLAS as a key element in the development of the further education and training sector. The SOLAS implementation group has been established to implement the changes. It met on 31 August and again yesterday. I am chairing the group and its membership includes officials from the Department of Education and Skills, FÁS and the Irish Vocational Education Association. The group is preparing an action plan and will report soon to the Cabinet committee on economic recovery and jobs. The action plan will be the subject of consultation with stakeholders before finalisation. The group has met twice and made progress on key elements such as the organisational mission, structure, staffing, funding and legislation for the new authority. Given the complex elements involved, including the legislation, it is expected that the process of establishing SOLAS will be completed by the end of 2012.

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