Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 43: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to an overlap in services provided in relation to training from organisations such Enterprise Ireland, FÁS, Skillnets and local authorities; if he has plans to re-organise these bodies and assess the way they complement each other; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4200/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In order to ensure optimal coordination in the implementation of the National Skills Strategy in the training sector and to avoid any possible over-lap or duplication my Department established the Upskilling Co-ordination Group last year. This group, which is chaired by 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 responsible for ensuring that training programmes delivered by those in receipt of Departmental funding are fully co-ordinated both in terms of strategy and implementation.

Since its inception the group has allowed my Department to have a greater focus on the coordination of the training programmes and objectives of the respective bodies and has allowed for a greater emphasis to be placed on upskilling workers on lower rungs of the vocational ladder — as committed to in both Towards 2016 and in the National Development Plan. I currently have no plans to re-organise the bodies referred to by the Deputy.