Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

I was hoping the Minister for Education and Skills would be present because he visited the St. John Bosco Youth Centre on 27 May 2013 to attend an event marking the financial support provided by the SML Foundation. He recognised the staff in the centre and the valuable contribution made by the training initiatives run by the centre. The manager of the centre, Mr. Brian Murphy, is in the Visitors Gallery, with staff co-ordinators. The centre has been running training courses for the past 12 or 13 years and the co-ordinators are very competent. The training initiatives undertaken are of very good quality.

This year the centre experienced a difficulty with CDETB Ballyfermot in getting the go-ahead to run the two training programmes which were due to start on Monday, 26 May. I happened to be in the centre that morning and met some of the students who were there and wanted to begin the courses. There are 28 students ready to begin the Horizon programme who are waiting to sign their F103 forms. There are potentially 13 or 14 students ready to begin the Leap programme for 16 to 18 year olds. Nothing has been written down anywhere about how local training programmes should be run, but the centre has been told that there must be 18 students in each programme. Up to now, the guidelines have indicated that there should be 14 students for every two members of staff. The centre has been told it must deliver 100% of the training content, including in mathematics, in which the staff would not receive training.

Normally they bring in outside co-ordinators to deliver the maths courses and so on. They also say the centre is not allowed to accept young people aged 17, but for the past few years they have been targeting the 16 to 18 age cohort to do the LEAP programme.

There is a problem and nothing definite has been said by the CDETB co-ordinator in Ballyfermot. There is no proper communication line between the St. John Bosco centre and the Ballyfermot CDETB. The centre asked me and other public representatives from the area to bring this issue to the attention of the Minister for Education and Skills and to ask what is the problem and whether the guidelines have changed. If so, will he inform them in order that they can do what is necessary to bring the courses in line? If not, why there is a reluctance on the part of the Ballyfermot CDETB to provide the F103 forms and to sign students up to the programmes? I met the students, who are from Dolphin House in Dublin 8 and Drimnagh, and they are enthusiastic. They want to start the training course. It has a good reputation in the area for providing a high standard of education and training at FETAC level 4. They wanted to start last Monday but they have been blocked. Will the Minister of State clarify what is happening? Will he instruct Ballyfermot CDETB to ensure the programmes are up and running as soon as possible - that is, next Monday?

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