Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 13: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his plans to encourage and facilitate the retraining of persons employed by companies that have a definite end life; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8434/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is fully committed to developing and training the national workforce. We will invest €7.7 billion in that endeavour over the lifetime of the National Development Plan to the year 2013.

The National Skills Strategy details a broad vision of what our skills profile should be by 2020. It maps necessary upskilling of those in jobs to underpin a knowledge-based economy. It involves an additional half a million people progressing by at least one level on the National Framework of Qualifications over that time period.

It therefore follows that all workers, including those currently employed in companies facing a precarious future, will have to commit to continuing training and learning. There is an important public role to be delivered in encouraging and facilitating those workers to enhance their skill levels and qualifications, acquire new skills in new areas and renew and update existing capabilities.

To facilitate this transition the key training providers under the auspices of my Department have responsibility for delivering necessary training to those in employment.

FÁS through their One Step Up programme is encouraging employees to increase their competency levels and promoting an ethos of lifelong learning in the workplace. Its key intervention in this regard is the Competency Development Programme. It offers workers different types of training programmes directed at various skill levels across major economic sectors.

Skillnets Limited, an enterprise-led support body, also seeks through their Training Networks Programme to enhance the skills of workers and improve employability and competitiveness.

This year alone my Department will invest €77 million in training those in employment. The objective is to reach about 86,000 people.

The implementation plan for the National Skills Strategy will address ways of encouraging employees to increase their commitment to, and participation in, workers education and training. It will be elaborated by an Inter Departmental Committee to be chaired by the Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Sean Haughey, and comprising officials from both our Departments.

FÁS, working in tandem with other State organisations, have an impressive track record in assisting in pre-redundancy and post-redundancy situations.

Such intervention will typically include interviewing, assessing and advising those who wish to explore alternative employment and/or retraining options. Training interventions and other supports would then be provided. The core objective is to get workers transferred to equivalent employment, or equipped to take up alternative job options as quickly as possible. Early intervention is key. Accordingly, FÁS — with its network of offices around the country — is constantly monitoring employment developments at local level and engaging with employers to be in a position to have forward knowledge of any negative developments in prospects. This is an important task and the way it is delivered will be periodically monitored and necessary adaptations made.