Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister of State for the clarification. I appreciate this is a major project and it has my full support. However, the momentum needs to be maintained. If any doubt or uncertainty sets in the new entity will get off to a bad start and will take time to recover. I am concerned for the people who avail of the services. All of us have met people in our clinics who have asked about SOLAS and whether it provides courses. Some are not yet fully aware that FÁS continues to deliver training services. It is important to get this right but delays must be minimised for the sake of the people who depend on these service and for the employees who fear being stuck a lacuna between the existing authority and the new entity.

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