Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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1. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for clarification on local training initiative operating guidelines, which state that any income received towards the running costs of an LTI , whether from earned income or secondary grant aiding, must be offset as income in the LTI monthly claim form. [56420/25]

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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The local training initiatives, LTIs, operating guidelines states that any income received towards the running costs of a LTI, whether from earned income or secondary grant aid, must be offset as income in the LTI monthly claim form. This clearly demonstrates that LTIs are not financially independent and cannot generate or retain income to improve wages or conditions as all funding is fully controlled and accounted for through the education training boards, ETBs, and SOLAS system. This appears to contradict the view that LTIs independently set their own pay and conditions. Will the Minister make a comment on that?

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for her ongoing interest in the further and higher education sectors. The Deputy is right there is a need to revisit some of the operational parameters of the LTIs. LTIs are community-based training programmes designed to support individuals who face economic, social or educational disadvantage. This is incredibly important work. The training programmes offered are tailored to meet specific local needs, ensuring relevance and impact within their communities which they serve. They are also independent organisations. They have their own independent boards of directors. The relationship with their grantors, the ETBs, is governed by the Department of public expenditure guidelines Circular 13/14 entitled, Management of and Accountability for Grants from Exchequer Funds. That circular guides the management, accountability and reporting of public funds allocated through grants. It applies to all bodies receiving such grants, including agencies, charities and other entities.

The operational guidelines also apply and were developed by SOLAS in 2013. A need to update those guidelines has been identified. Education and Training Boards Ireland, ETBI, is currently work on such a project leading the development of new operational guidelines to manage the relationship between ETBs and grant-funded organisations that provide education and training.

I have recently written to SOLAS seeking an update on that work to see where it is at with that because it is an important piece of work. The guidelines need revisiting at this stage. I expect those updated guidelines will be published in the coming months. I hope to be in a position to receive that further update following my correspondence with SOLAS. I hope it will be soon as well. It is part of a substantial work programme to make sure all of systems of processes are fit for purpose and up to date and that there is robust governance with public funds but also sufficiently versatile and flexible to deliver for the end user and ultimately the people using the services, and indeed providing the services. I agree with the Deputy. It is under way. I have recently corresponded with SOLAS on it. It needs to be done.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome that. I agree with the Minister that they are well needed and well placed. They help people get their foot on the ladder. They are in communities. There is a real issue with the lack of transparency, which the Minister has pointed out as well. The pay and conditions for staff in both LTIs and community training centres, CTCs, are determined through a central process involving negotiations with unions and the Government rather than being set by each individual initiative. Surely there should be a mechanism in place to offer anatomy to LTIs in terms of overall responsibility. The pay disparity is an inequality that can no longer be justified. Instructors working at CTCs have increments from the start while LTI co-ordinators have a set scale salary with no increments. This cannot continue. I am the glad the Minister is going to work on that.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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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.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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I appreciate those words. I am glad to hear that this will all be worked out. As the Minister said, it needs to be simplified and streamlined. The last letter that went out from the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin's office in 2025 states that LTIs are independent. This needs to be clarified for those LTIs out there that are trying to work through this. The fact the Department instructed SOLAS in 2023 to award 5% pay increases shows that they are not independent. That needs to be clarified.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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There is always a degree of autonomy within the educational landscape, be it further or higher education. The Minister of State did correspond with the Department and the relevant bodies in terms of pay scales and around community training centres and youth reach centres, but the Department is not the employer. There is a remove. There can be several stages in that remove. It is not direct reporting lines. I would liken it to more of a dotted reporting line in some cases. These are all things that would benefit from clarity and some reorganisation or certainly some visibility of the different structures that pertain.

I am not going to comment much on the pay side because there are various Labour Court recommendations that are being worked through. They are being funded through my Department, but that is an ongoing piece of work. There have been some significant increases. For example, the CTC staff were awarded a 5% pay increase from recent Labour Court findings. That is progress.