Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My Department funds a range of further education and training programmes that offer guidance, access, transfer and progression opportunities for learners, involving 300,000 places. In addition to the provision of programmes, my Department and the Department of Social Protection support learners attending courses through the provision of payments, allowances, and maintenance grants.

The Government has embarked upon a major programme of reform in the further education and training sectors including establishment of SOLAS and the education and training boards. The Government through the Pathways to Work document and Intreo, the new integrated employment and support service, is also introducing improved service supports for the unemployed. AONTAS, in its recent position paper on budget 2013, indicates strong support for these structural reforms.

The Government's objective in this area is to raise the educational and skills level of adult learners, particularly among the unemployed, in order to help them to meet the requirements of the modern labour market.

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