asked the Minister for Labour the extent to which Irish industrialists have participated in the European Social Fund for industrial training programmes.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Industrial Training Programmes.
11.
In 1973, applications for assistance from the European Social Fund were submitted by eight industrial firms and grants totalling £130,817 were approved for those firms. In addition, applications for social fund assistance were submitted by the State agencies responsible for administering schemes of training grants in the private sector and social fund grants of about £¾ million were approved in those cases, covering approximately 100 firms.
To date in 1974, 11 industrial firms have submitted applications for assistance from the social fund for a total amount of about £350,000. It is expected that, in all, applications in respect of up to 40 firms will be submitted in the present year. The State agencies dealing with training grants are also applying for fund assistance in respect of training programmes of private firms. It is estimated that these omnibus applications will cover training by between 150 and 200 firms and that the total amount of assistance requested will be in the region of £1.7 million, £1.1 million for training in 1974 and the balance for training in 1975 and 1976.