Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Before I address the issue at hand I wish to pay tribute my friend, mentor and colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn. I would not be in this Chamber today if it were not for the constant support, guidance and example of the Minister who announced today that he will shortly exit the Government benches and leave the political stage. He is a Titan of the Labour movement and a liberalising and modernising force in Irish society. I am proud to say he is a political hero of mine. He can look back on his career safe in the knowledge that he has changed Ireland and Irish society for the better.

There is a very serious and troubling shortage of SOLAS-led courses available in the immediate Drogheda area, which the agency must address. All of us who are interested in ensuring people who have lost their jobs get back to work as quickly possible want to see them given the route back to work that they need. The unemployment rate in Drogheda, Ireland’s largest town, has dropped by approximately 20% over the past three years, since this Government took office. The Louth and Drogheda area in general have done extremely well through a range of Government initiatives such as the provision of MOMENTUM and Springboard places and other schemes.

Local stakeholders who are involved in job facilitation and job coaching and guiding people through the system, and constituents have drawn my attention the fact that there are very few direct SOLAS courses available in the Drogheda area. There is no SOLAS training centre. That regional training centre is located in Dundalk. A mere six of the 150 SOLAS courses available in the north east are available in Drogheda. This is incongruous and unacceptable for the sixth largest urban area in the country. We need to ensure courses are available as close as possible to those who wish to access them. Travelling to the local FÁS regional centre in Dundalk can be problematic and expensive for a person from Drogheda, all the more so if the person lives in Laytown or Bettystown because that involves taking two or three buses. It is even more complicated for those attending evening courses because the last bus for Drogheda leaves Dundalk before the classes end. That is a practical problem that needs to be addressed with some imagination.

The unavailability of courses in the Drogheda area is a real problem and I am concerned that it can act as a real barrier to participation for people who should be in a position to take up courses to allow them get back to work quickly, and to equip them with the type of skills that the Minister wants to equip them with and that I want them to develop, to enable them get back into work as quickly as possible. The Department, SOLAS and all the other stakeholders need to work closely together to ensure all those issues are addressed, the obstacles removed and that there are many practical SOLAS courses available in the locality for people from the Drogheda area.

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