Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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72. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the proposals his Department has to provide facilities for Kildare and Wicklow education training board, KWETB, to enable it to carry out its statutory functions to deliver training programmes for Kildare and Wicklow in view of the fact that KWETB is one of five education and training boards nationally that is without a training centre; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33253/16]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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The reform of the Further Education and Training (FET) sector involves the future delivery of further education and training in an integrated manner.  This involved the transfer of training centres from SOLAS to ETBs.  Seven training centres and their staff transferred to four ETBs on 1 January 2014 while a further twelve training centres transferred to seven ETBs on 1 July 2014.

Five ETBs, including Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board (KWETB) did not receive a training centre.  The Education and Training Boards Act 2013 makes no distinction between the ETBs which received centres and the ones which did not as all ETBs must ensure the delivery of both education and training.

Having regard to the legislation and to the policy objective of integrating Further Education and Training, the ETB/SOLAS Programme Board established by my Department, which includes representation from the ETB Sector and from SOLAS, decided that each ETB without a training centre should be allocated staffing and resources to deliver contracted and community training and to deal with the management of the apprenticeship employers in its area.

Accordingly, a process which was undertaken to facilitate the transfer of these training functions to those ETBs to which training functions were to be transferred resulted in the formal transfer of training functions to KWETB on 2 November 2015.  I am satisfied that as a result of this process and transfer of functions, Kildare and Wicklow ETB is now in a position to discharge its statutory functions.