Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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213. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will outline the process for allocating the approximate €1 billion surplus in the National Training Fund with the sanction of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Delivery Plan Delivery and Reform; and if he will clarify whether this is an annual allocation and the process by which projects are selected for allocation of funds. [22105/23]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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The National Training Fund is a dedicated fund established under the National Training Fund Act, 2000 resourced by the Training Levy paid by employers to raise the skills of those in employment; provide training to those who wish to acquire skills to take up employment and provide information in relation to skills requirements in the economy.

My Department allocates funding from the NTF, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in accordance with the provisions of the Act. The allocation for each scheme is generally determined as part of the annual Estimates process. While the NTF does not form part of my Department’s Vote, it is included as an annex to the published Estimates. Any increase in NTF expenditure, all other things being equal and without a corresponding reduction on the Vote, requires an increase in my Department and overall Government expenditure ceilings. NTF expenditure increases general Government expenditure and can only be accommodated within the fiscal strategy agreed by Government.

At the end of 2021 the accumulated surplus in the National Training Fund was €1.1billion. While the 2002 Financial Statements for the NTF have yet to be audited, the surplus at the end of 2022 has increased to some €1.37 billion. For 2023, the income of the NTF is forecast at €1,020m with expenditure forecast at €900.8m, which is expected to result in an annual surplus of €120m, which will further increase the surplus. The NTF accumulated surplus reflects the increase in the rate of the levy to 1% and the continued growth in employment in the economy. In accordance with the terms of NTF Act, the surplus remains in the accounts of the NTF for possible investment in other eligible training activity.

While a prudent level of reserve in the NTF is imperative to guard against the uncertainties of the economic cycle ensuring that sufficient resources are available to deliver on our skills priorities, the current level of the surplus evidently exceeds what may conceivably be required for a potential “rainy day”. The NTF Advisory Group has recommended that the growing surplus be used to address the skills challenges in the labour market.

The recently published OECD Report Ireland Skills Strategy Report notes that many Irish adults are at risk of falling behind as they do not have the right skills to thrive in their current employment and are unprepared for changes in the world of work. Our participation in lifelong learning, while above the EU average, falls far behind top EU performers. The OECD recommends using the surplus NTF funds to address these risks and improve structural incentives for employers to take advantage of NTF-funded education and training. It proposes a discretionary fund as part of the NTF for the regional/local/sectoral level, and increased NTF support for upskilling and reskilling for SMEs.

My Department is working closely with other Departments and the enterprise led NTF Advisory Group to develop options for the potential use of the NTF surplus to address the skills challenges identified for the future world of work, driven by technology and the decarbonisation imperative, in the context of Estimates 2024.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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214. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development when the community services programme strand 2 will reopen to new entrants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21973/23]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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My Department's Community Services Programme (CSP) currently supports over 420 community-based organisations, to provide local services through a social enterprise model. CSP provides an annual co-funding contribution towards each full-time equivalent (FTE) position being supported, and, where warranted, towards the cost of employing a manager.

Qualifying organisations must be social enterprises capable of generating income from their activities in order to meet the full salary costs of the supported posts, for example, from income received from the public use of facilities and services.

As stated in my reply to PQ 21052/23, a new call for applications under the CSP was launched on 6^thMarch last. Two pre-application support workshops were provided to potential applicants under Strand 2 on 21^stand 28^thMarch, to ensure organisations were fully equipped with the information that they needed to apply for this funding.

Following the pre-application support workshops, organisations were invited to submit a short concept note to Pobal outlining their proposal for assessment against the objectives of the call. The deadline for receipt of concept notes under Strand 2 was 14th April.

Pobal have commenced their assessment of the concept notes and it is expected that their recommendations will be submitted to the department for approval in mid/late May. Following review by the Department, successful organisations will be invited to participate in the formal application process. It is expected that organisations will receive notification of the outcome in June.