John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 345: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the potential job losses as a result of the failure of IDA to resolve the issue of changing a nine hundred and ninety nine year lease on premises (details supplied) in County Sligo, to a freehold lease; if he will give direct instruction on this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25100/07]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The management of IDA Ireland's industrial property portfolio, including the purchase and disposal of property, is a day-to-day operational matter for the Agency as part of the statutory responsibility assigned to it by the Oireachtas and not a matter in which I have a function.

I have been informed by IDA Ireland that, in 1998, the Agency sold 1.3152 Hectares, on a leasehold basis, to Ballymote Community Enterprise Ltd. In October, 2006 Ballymote Community Enterprise Ltd. requested that IDA sell the freehold interest to them.

IDA policy for land sales is to obtain market value when disposing of property assets and part of this process involves seeking an independent valuation by a national accredited valuer. IDA subsequently obtained a freehold valuation of these lands and the Agency informed the prospective purchasers, through the latter's solicitor of this valuation in March last.

I understand that the Deputy and the Agency are in correspondence over this matter. Given that the Minister of the day is specifically precluded from giving directives to the Agency concerning individual undertakings it would not be appropriate for me to intervene. I look forward to receiving the views of the Expert Group on these measures and on their potential to contribute to meeting the targets contained in the National Skills Strategy.

In revising the Expert Group on Future Skills Need's mandate a continuing focus on the National Skills Strategy is provided for through: requiring that an annual report of work undertaken by the Expert Group be prepared each year, and that the chairperson of the Expert Group meet at least once annually with the Minister of Education and Science and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Obviously a central element of such meetings between the Ministers and the Chairperson will be to comprehensively assess the implementation of the National Skills Strategy.

Earlier this year I also established the Management Development Council, which brings together the key providers and users of SME management development training in Ireland. The Council has been charged with examining the existing management development provision, while profiling gaps and proposing solutions to address them.

Finally the Upskilling Co-ordination Group, also set up in the course of this year and chaired by an official of my Department, brings together representatives of FÁS, Skillnets, Enterprise Ireland, the County Enterprise Boards and Forfas. The core work of this group is to ensure the most effective and strategic application of public budgets provided for the continuing training of those at work.

The group is also tasked with ensuring that the emphasis placed on upskilling workers on lower rungs of the vocational ladder — as committed to in both Towards 2016 and in the National Development Plan — is progressively being realised through the training programmes administered by the organisations involved and those contracted to deliver training and development programmes on their behalf.

The Government remains fully committed to upskilling and the implementation of the National Skills Strategy. This year the State will invest approximately €70 million in the training of those in employment. This represents a significant increase in investment when you consider that in 2004 the state invested €8 million in this area.