Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 39: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the steps he has taken with the Department of Education and Skills to develop synergies in training and mentoring between Enterprise Ireland, the newly formatted county enterprise boards and the proposed Solas. [20912/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Implementation Group set up as a result of the Government Decision to establish SOLAS is made up of representatives from the Department of Education and Skills, FÁS, the Irish Vocational Education Association and the Department of Social Protection. The Group is charged with the preparation of an Action Plan and is chaired by the Minister for Training and Skills, Ciaran Cannon T.D. The Group has been meeting regularly to drive the process forward.

My Department, in consultation with the industrial development agencies under its aegis made a submission to the Department of Education and Skills outlining their views on the role and remit of SOLAS. My Department will continue to be involved in driving the process forward.

The Action Plan for Jobs calls for the establishment of a one-stop-shop to provide micro enterprise support through the dissolution of the existing CEB offices and the creation of a new Micro Enterprise and Small Business Unit in Enterprise Ireland that will work with Local Authorities to establish a new network of Local Enterprise offices (LEOs) in each Local Authority. The new LEOs will combine the enterprise support service of the previous CEBs and the business support work of the Business Support Units in the Local Authorities. A key role will be providing mentoring for micro-business.

In addition, it is my firm intention that the new LEOs will develop a close working relationship with a range of other bodies working at local level and, specifically, there is a commitment to developing a closer connection to the National Employment and Entitlements Service (NEES) and SOLAS services in terms of appropriate referrals and access to training and development.