Written answers
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Department of Education and Skills
Education and Training Boards Funding
Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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418. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will ensure that capital funding is provided to Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board to enable it establish a training centre in Kildare south and surrounding area which has high levels of unemployment; and the way it proposes the board will address its remit in view of the lack of infrastructure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19294/15]
Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The Government decisions underpinning the reform of the ETB/SOLAS sector envisage a key role for the ETBs in relation to the future delivery of further education and training in an integrated manner under the reforms that will be driven by SOLAS. The Education and Training Boards Act 2013 recognises this in providing that the general functions of an ETB include to "plan, provide, coordinate and review the provision of education and training, including education and training for the purpose of employment". While each of the 16 ETBs, therefore, has training functions under the 2013 Act, 5 ETBs, including Kildare and Wicklow ETB have not had a training centre transferred to them. An interim approach was adopted in 2014 which provided for ETBs with or receiving training centres to retain primary responsibility for training and to continue to be accountable to SOLAS. This approach is still in operation.
The Reform Programme for the sector is actively supported and overseen by a Programme Board chaired by my Department's Secretary General and including members of the Department's senior management team and representatives from the sector. In March 2014, the ETB/SOLAS Programme Board agreed that a project should be established to examine the most likely options for a longer-term solution for 2015 and beyond for the 5 ETBs without a training centre. Accordingly, my Department engaged with the chief executives of these 5 non-training centre ETBs and with SOLAS in relation to how these ETBs would deliver on their training remit for 2014 and beyond. As part of its consideration of this issue, the Board agreed that the establishment of new training centres should not form part of these considerations.
Following consultation with the sector, the ETB/SOLAS Programme Board has decided that each ETB without a training centre should be allocated staffing and resources to deliver Contracted/Community Training and manage the Apprenticeship Employers in its area. Work is now progressing on moving this project into a detailed planning phase.
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