James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I will share some of the processes that are under way under the ETBI's direction. The new operational guidelines should encompass at least but not limited to the following objectives. They should simplify the grant management relationship between ETB and third-party providers. It is complex. One thing I have learned in this role is that particularly the further education landscape is complex and labyrinthine at times. There are many different organisations, including voluntary, community and statutory, interworking and intertwining with each other. It is not always simple to navigate those frameworks. We need to simplify those relationships. We also need to streamline the approval and claims structure that applies to them. We need to provide clearer accountability lines. The Deputy referred to the transparency. I agree that accountability is very important. The role of the individual ETBs in relation to oversight, monitoring and reporting needs to be clarified and made clear. The grantee's responsibility in relation to daily operations - that goes to some of things that the Deputy is talking about - and staffing are important. As always with public funds, the independence and the proper usage of those funds have to be paramount as well. There are number of things that need to be looked at, but those are the kind categories that the ETBI are currently working towards with the review of the guidelines.

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