Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 43: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the changes in training and employment policy she will make in view of the Irish Labour Market Review 2009; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13406/09]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The FÁS Annual Labour Market Review for 2008, which was published in March 2009, presents an overall assessment of labour market developments in Ireland. The report highlights changes in the labour market including the rise in unemployment due to the economic downturn and also contains a number of proposals for dealing with the current unemployment situation.

The Government has already put in place a number of actions to deal with the rise in unemployment. FÁS' Employment Services together with Local Employment Services have implemented measures designed to provide increased capacity for the rise in referrals from the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the increased number of unemployed seeking job search assistance voluntarily. The implementation of these measures has increased the monthly capacity of job search services from 6,500 to 12,250 persons per month. To assist individuals through the provision of education and training opportunities I announced the availability of 51,000 new training places under the FÁS Training Initiatives Strategy. These places are in addition to the 27,000 previously planned for 2009 under the Bridging Foundation Training, Specific Skills Training and Traineeships Programmes. These programmes will provide short training courses for those who are recently unemployed.

The Training Initiative Strategy enhances the traditional mix of course offerings and will be delivered through three core-training initiatives, Short Courses, Night Courses and Online Courses. The courses are for highly employable persons who wish to add to their existing skills level and improve their prospects of re-entering the labour market. The night courses offer further flexibility and the online courses provide an excellent option for those who need a fast flexible intervention and who prefer a self directed e-learning and blended learning environment.

To assist redundant construction workers FÁS have developed specific training courses to meet the emerging need for qualified workers in sustainable energy technologies. These courses include Solar Panel Installation, Geo-thermal heating and Biomass heating. The programmes are designed to update the skills of suitable crafts persons, typically plumbers, electricians and fitters. Priority for attendance at these specific training courses will be given to the unemployed who meet the entry requirements for the course and will be provided to unemployed participants at no cost.

The Government is also determined to assist redundant apprentices complete their apprenticeships despite being currently unemployed. We have initiated several measures, which will see approximately over 2,700 redundant apprentices being able to progress their apprenticeships this year. The measures to assist redundant apprentices include the employer based rotation scheme, which will assist up to 500 individuals, the agreement between ESB Networks and FÁS to provide training opportunities to up to 400 redundant electrical apprentices and the interim changes introduced by FÁS to enable redundant apprentices progress to their next off-the-job phase without having completed the previous on-the-job phases. This initiative will assist approximately 1,200 redundant apprentices this year.

In view of the increasing numbers of people who are unemployed, as evident by the findings of the Labour Market Review 2008, the Government remains intent on achieving greater capacity within our existing training and activation resources. In this context we will continue to examine further ways to make training and education services available to a greater number of unemployed persons to ensure timely and comprehensive access to the full range of services provided by FÁS.