Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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51. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if there is a €28 million surplus in her Department's community employment training fund; her plans to restore the training grants to community employment projects to the pre-cut rate; and, if not, her plans to spend this money on participant training. [34817/15]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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There is no surplus of €28 million in the CE Training Fund. The 2015 annual training budget for Community Employment is €6.1 million. CE training expenditure up to 23rd September 2015 is €4.1 million. It is not possible at this point in time to determine if there will be an underspend in this budget by year end. As you are aware, there is always an increase in the take-up of training during September and October on CE due to the start of the academic year in most colleges. The Department encourages the full use of this budget by the adult learners on CE who for many provides a valuable opportunity to engage in learning and to make up for lost opportunities in the past.

The Department is considering the CE budget for 2016 and is reviewing the training budget as part of this process.