Written answers

Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Department of Education and Skills

Job Creation Issues

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of new jobs created by his Department as a result of the jobs initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37275/12]

Photo of Ciarán CannonCiarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Under the Jobs Initiative the Department of Education and Skills was to provide 15,900 education and training places across a spectrum of programmes. Details of which are set out below:

- 6,000 places in the FÁS Specific Skills Training programme

- 5,900 places in the Higher Education Springboard programme

- 3,000 places in the Back to Education Initiative programme

- 1,000 places in Post Leaving Cert Courses.

In addition, capital funding of €40 million was made available through the Jobs Initiative to fund 374 primary and post primary school building projects. These funds allowed schools to carry out small and medium scale building works such as special needs access, toilet facilities, roof works and window replacements. As reported at the launch of the Jobs Initiative it was estimated that the investment of €40m would create approximately 2,400 direct and 480 indirect jobs in the construction sector over the course of the initiative.

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of new jobs created by his Department as a result of the action plan on jobs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37291/12]

Photo of Ciarán CannonCiarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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My Department's actions will support the Government's "Action Plan for Jobs", which sets out how the Government will target different sectors with new policy supports for creating employment opportunities. Under this ambitious plan the Government expects to create up to 100,000 jobs over the next 4 years. My Department will play a key role in the successful implementation of this plan to ensure people have the relevant education , training and competencies so they can compete for jobs in all sectors as they arise. It is not possible at this stage to calculate the number of jobs that may be created directly as a result of the actions of my Department under this initiative. While my Department has no direct role in the creation of jobs in this regard, it should be noted that the funding for positions throughout the education sector is channelled through the Department's budget.

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of new jobs created by his Department as a result of Budget 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37307/12]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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During its first 100 days in Office, this Government put in place a Jobs Initiative and, within its first year of being in Office, the Government put in place an Action Plan for Jobs. The Deputy will be aware that the APJ includes a target to create the environment where the number of people at work will increase by 100,000 – from 1.8 million to 1.9 million – by 2016, and reach 2 million people by 2020. Some of the significant Department of Education and Skills actions in Budget 2012 and the APJ include -

* A new Labour Market Education and Training Fund. This €20 million fund will be specifically targeted at the long-term unemployed and will deliver upward of 6,500 places in 2012.

* Prioritisation of places, including in the further education and training sector, specifically for those on the Live Register for 12 months or more.

* A new call under the Springboard programme for higher education courses that are aligned with areas of future skills needs and targeted at the unemployed. In May 2012, 6,000 places on 220 courses opened for applications under Springboard 2012.

* Rollout of 750 places on 17 new fully funded graduate ICT skills conversion programmes across the country.

* A specific training initiative for managers in SMEs.

In addition, the Action Plan contains significant actions in the whole area of international education provision and attention to building on the Education in Ireland brand to increase awareness of Ireland as a top class centre of education services. The Government has also prioritised investment in school buildings and earlier this year I published the first ever Five Year Plan for School Buildings. This €1.5 billion investment in major school building projects will create an estimated 15,000 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs over the period of the programme (an annual average of 3,000 direct and 600 indirect jobs).

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