Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to the decision to discontinue the adult refugee programme, if the services provided by the programme will be replaced by new schemes or if existing schemes will be enhanced to cover the gap in service; if staff employed under the adult refugee programme whose contracts are not now to be renewed will be retained under these schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47861/12]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Migrants, including workers and refugees, will continue to be able to access a range of courses that have always been provided by Vocational Education Committees (VECs) under the Adult Literacy and Community Education Scheme (ALCES) and the Back to Education Initiative (BTEI), both of which are funded by my Department. In 2011, some 12,000 people people accessed English as a Second Language (ESOL) courses provided under the ALCES and BTEI programmes, including over 1,300 refugees. In this way, the needs of refugees can continue to be provided for by VECs.

Staff on the programme are employed directly by the VEC where programmes are located. It will be a matter for the individual VECs, as employers, to address employment matters.