Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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175. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if redundancy payment will be granted in respect of persons (details supplied). [16161/14]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I understand from SOLAS that following the closure of a Local Training Initiative in 2012, Statutory Redundancy was paid to the persons involved. Local Training Initiatives are funded through SOLAS and managed and operated by local groups. The staff are employed by these groups and my Department does not have a direct role in relation to staff and employment issues relating to these bodies. However, guidance has been sought by SOLAS on the payment of enhanced redundancy and the matter is being reviewed in my Department.

Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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176. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to restore the SOLAS weekly training allowance for persons with disabilities to €31.80 per week; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16343/14]

Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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177. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will restore the SOLAS training allowance of €31.80 per week to allow persons with disabilities to access training courses. [16369/14]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 176 and 177 together.

The payment of an additional training allowance of €31.80 per week for the long term unemployed was introduced during a period of high employment levels as an incentive for the long term unemployed to participate in FÁS (now SOLAS) training courses. The payment of this allowance was later extended to those persons in receipt of social welfare disability payments to introduce equality of treatment for all people in FAS training.

The payment was reduced from €31.80 per week to €20 per week as part of Budget 2011. In the present economic situation this incentive is no longer considered appropriate and as part of Budget 2014 it was decided to cease this payment for all SOLAS participants commencing courses after 1st January 2014. This change does not apply to persons who commenced a course prior to January 2014 who will continue to receive the long term unemployed bonus payment for the duration of their course. This is a decision taken in the context of the overall savings this Department had to find for 2014 and future years. It was taken against a difficult budgetary background and there is no scope to re-visit it.