Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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In June 2010 the former Government applied for €41 million from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund in order to provide tailored retraining for 9,000 named construction workers who were made redundant between June 2009 and March 2010. Moneys from this fund must be used within 24 months of the initial application. In other member states it is standard practice that national funds are used in advance to provide early intervention for workers and to ensure spending targets are met.

According to the European Commission, €35 million has been approved to provide support for 5,987 redundant construction workers. However, final approval is not likely until the end of the year, leaving just six months before all moneys must be spent. I have been reliably informed that a significant portion of this funding is now in jeopardy as a result of mismanagement of the programme. Only those redundant workers named in the application can avail of the funding, yet I am told that very few, if any at all, of the named individuals were contacted and that it is not now known whether they are still in the country, have emigrated in search of work or are in work. Will the Minister indicate whether this is the case? I am told that none of these individuals has had his or her training needs assessed beyond the basic assessment provided by FÁS for all redundant workers, even though a more detailed assessment is required for the specific forms of support provided under the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund. Will the Minister clarify this?

Earlier this month the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Deputy Ciarán Cannon, stated that at least €22 million of the total value of the programme has already been invested in training supports delivered by FÁS. Was this sum used to provide additional tailored training over and above the existing FÁS training for the 5,987 individuals named in the globalisation fund application, or was it part of the ordinary spend by FÁS on training that would have been provided in any case had the globalisation funding not been sought?

Concerns have also been raised with me regarding the time period used in determining eligibility for inclusion in the scheme. With more than 140,000 construction workers made redundant in recent years, why was the application restricted only to those who lost their jobs between July 2009 and March 2010? Why has no application been made for other sectors affected by the recession, such as the retail and financial sectors, given that this fund has an annual budget of some €500 million, 80% of which remains untouched in any given year?

While numerous issues require to be clarified in regard to this matter, the central issue of concern is the possible loss of a large portion of the €35 million in European funds for retraining of redundant workers. Will the Minister confirm whether there is any risk of this money being lost and, if so, what he and his officials are doing to prevent such an occurrence?

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I thank Deputy Doherty for affording me the opportunity to speak on this important issue. I am not certain whether I have full answers to all of his questions, but I will follow up with subsequent information if necessary.

Ireland has an enviable record in the EU in sourcing European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, EGF, co-financing assistance to support redundant workers. To date, €38.2 million in EGF funding - national and EU - has been secured for EGF programmes to support redundant workers from Dell, Waterford Crystal and SR Technics and ancillary enterprises. A further €55 million is in prospect, with the European Commission recently approving €35.7 million, or 65% of this amount, in support of almost 9,000 redundant construction workers. This combined EGF expenditure has and will provide supports to more than 13,500 redundant workers.

EGF funding assists the Government to provide a package of personalised services in the areas of guidance, training, educational opportunities and enterprise supports. A mix of existing and new and innovative measures has been designed and implemented in the various programmes. As well as co-financing guidance, training, further and third level education provided by the core service providers such as FÁS, the VECs and the publicly funded third level colleges and institutions, EGF funds have also funded courses provided by the private sector. Innovative internship programmes have been designed and operated in the mid-west region in support of redundant Dell workers, while tailored FÁS and VEC vocational and community employment courses have been deployed for Waterford Crystal workers. An innovative FÁS apprenticeship scheme for redundant SR Technics apprentices is running in conjunction with the Air Corps and the Department of Defence.

In regard to the three EGF applications in support of almost 9,000 redundant construction workers, full approval of these applications is still awaited from the European Council and European Parliament. However, the Government has been providing supports to these workers since the date of their redundancy. These supports have included guidance, training, further education courses, on and off-the-job apprenticeship supports, third level education programmes and enterprise start-up advisory and financial supports. To date we estimate that supports totalling €22 million have been delivered to the relevant construction sector applicants. A further suite of guidance, training and upskilling proposals is under consideration and all persons eligible for new supports will be contacted individually next month. Following the take-up of all available supports, a further suite of measures will be provided in 2012 to maximise the anticipated EGF funding.

The three completed EGF programmes are currently being assessed and wound up, and final reports must be prepared for submission to the European Commission. The first such report is for the Dell EGF programme. As a number of significant claims are currently being processed and others are still due from service providers, it is not possible to give a total expenditure figure at this time. However, my Department has paid more than €5.5 million in funding to date, based on claims received, with a further €1.4 million and just under €1 million, respectively, paid out in regard to the Waterford Crystal and SR Technics EGF programmes, which closed subsequent to the Dell programme.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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The application and administration of these funds is a shambles. The Minister confirmed that the 5,987 construction workers under whose name an application was made will be contacted by the Department next month.

This is 17 months after the application for specific tailor-made programmes to help them get back into work was made for them. These are early interventions yet they will only be informed 17 months after the application is made. That is a delay of seven months. The €35 million will be spent on their behalf. I know that is not solely the problem of the Labour Party or Fine Gael in that the previous Government administered this fund for the majority of that time but it is not right that this has happened. It happened with SR Technics, Dell and Waterford Crystal.

While the Minister may not have the detail at hand does he believe that significant portions of the funding drawn down for retraining for the persons who lost their jobs in those three companies will have to be sent back to Europe as a result of the criteria and the way it was administered by the previous Government, particularly that the money was not spent until the cheque landed with the Department? What is required under this fund, and what happens in other member states, is that the Government uses its national funds to apply early interventions in the form of tailor-made programmes but that has not happened. Can the Minister confirm whether his Department knows of the whereabouts of the 5,900 individuals on whose behalf this application has been made? On whom can this money be spent? I suggest it is nobody other than those individuals. Can the Minister confirm that?

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I share with the Deputy my concern about the maladministration of this set of programmes by the previous Administration. I will be honest with the Deputy. It is not a satisfactory situation. I am not sure what precisely we can do at this point in time but we have certainly missed one tide in regard to it and I hope we have not missed the whole tide. I apologise to the workers involved. They have been victims of maladministration by the Department under the previous Administration. It is now our responsibility to try to clear it up. I do not know how much we can clear up but when I do know, I will tell the Deputy.