Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

ETB courses are by and large free or very low cost. ETBs offer a range of short courses along with longer duration courses. Are these courses achieving their aim? What is the workforce-entry success for people who do these courses? Are the short-term courses achieving their aim or are they just being done as a tick-box exercise by people who are unemployed? Are they contributing to these people entering the labour market or following on to some apprenticeship or PLC course? In the area of disability, Ireland has the lowest labour participation rate in Europe. I understand some ETBs offer work-ready courses. Can the ETB play a bigger role in improving labour participation rate within the disability sector?

How closely aligned are the ETBs to industry? Can they build closer relationships with industry, as discussed earlier, and plan their training programmes to align with industry needs? This is a dynamic situation and should be kept under constant review. Regarding transport, can students access these courses and are transport links being developed?

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