Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The members of the board were not aware this was happening. I know there was a changeover of membership because of the local elections, but the members both before and after the elections were not aware. They had put forward proposals to get an overdraft and so on but were just shot down. The Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, intimated to me that some of the funding related to the large number of people who have come here from other countries and are receiving English classes, so there will be an additional cost for people coming in to live in the area and that should be taken into account. There are more people from other countries in Monaghan than there are in most other counties.

We need to help these people, and if that requires additional funding, the Government should step up and provide it. I have had contact from people who are involved in men's sheds, and we know about the important work that men's sheds do for men's mental health by bringing them together. They provide classes such as computer classes, cooking classes and so on, but they cannot provide any of them now without adult tutors being available through the ETB. This needs to be addressed immediately and the Government needs to stop washing its hands of it.

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